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Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


A  New  Method  for  Bible  Classes 

By  HENRY  T.  SELL 

Each,  Paper,  30  cts.  -  Cloth,  33  cts. 


LATEST  ISSUES 

Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters . 
Bible  Studies  in  Vital  Questions . 
Studies  in  the  Four  Gospels . 

EIGHT  BOOKS 
In  Order  of  Publication 

Supplemental  Bible  Studies . 

Bible  Studies  by  Books . 

Bible  Studies  by  Periods. 

Bible  Studies  by  Doctrines. 

Bible  Studies  in  the  Life  of  Christ. 
Bible  Studies  in  the  Life  of  Paul. 
Studies  in  the  Life  of  the  Christian. 
Studies  in  Early  Church  History. 


Studies  of  Great  Bible 
Characters 


By 

HENRY  T.  SELL,  D.  D. 

Author  of  The  Sell  Series  of  Bible  Studies 
for  Adult  Classes 


Chicago 

Revell  Company 

Edinburgh 


and 


Copyright,  1923,  by 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York: 
Chicago :  1 7 
London :  2 
Edinburgh : 


Foreword 


THIS  book  is  a  short  course,  through  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  of  twenty-one 
“  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters.” 
There  is  here  presented  a  number  of  biographies 
of  men  who  were  the  outstanding  and  strategic  lead¬ 
ers  of  their  own  times.  They  not  only  moulded  the 
thought  and  directed  the  action  of  the  ages  in  which 
they  lived  but  to-day  are  even  more  influential. 

They  realized,  were  profoundly  influenced  by,  and 
worked  enthusiastically  for  ideals  and  principles 
which  still  lead  us  on.  They  had  their  faults.  They 
were  very  human.  They  made  mistakes,  of  which 
they  bitterly  repented,  but  above  every  other  desire 
was  that  of  bringing  in  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth ; 
this  is  their  glory. 

Their  problems,  under  other  guises  and  in  dif¬ 
ferent  circumstances,  are  our  problems.  It  is  of 
great  interest  to  us  to  see  how  they  worked  them 
out  in  order  that  we  may  be  better  able  to  solve  ours. 

These  men  were  hardy  adventurers  on  the  sea  of 
life,  who,  buffeted  and  beset  by  violent  storms,  still 
came  safely  to  port,  with  rich  cargoes.  How  they 
did  this  will  richly  repay  the  most  careful  study.  In 
their  successes  they  rise  above  their  nationality  and 
become  of  interest  to  the  people  of  every  nationality 
and  every  age. 

An  effort  is  here  made  not  only  to  get  at  the 

5 


6 


Foreword 


underlying  truths  and  principles  which  guided  these 
men  but  also  to  set  forth  the  practical  lessons,  in 
them,  for  us,  to-day. 

Of  the  importance  of  this  sort  of  study  Dr.  W.  L. 
Phelps,  Professor  of  English  Literature  in  Yale 
University,  says  in  a  recent  book,  “  I  thoroughly  be¬ 
lieve  in  a  university  education  for  both  men  and 
women ;  but  I  believe  a  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  with¬ 
out  a  college  course,  is  more  valuable  than  a  college 
course  without  the  Bible.” 

This  book  is  intended  to  be  added  to  and  take  the 
eleventh  place  in  the  author’s  “Ten  Books  of  Bible 
Studies.”  It  is  to  be  used  as  they  have  been  in  the 
Adult  Bible  Gass,  Schools,  Colleges,  private  study, 
etc.  The  author  is  profoundly  grateful  for  the  large 
favour  with  which  his  former  books  have  been  re¬ 
ceived. 

Henry  T.  Sell. 

New  York ,  N.  Y. 


Contents 


L 

Abraham  . 

The  Man  Who  Dared  to  Trust  God. 

9 

II. 

Isaac . 

The  Challenge  of  Obedience. 

17 

III. 

Jacob  ...... 

The  Sharp  Trader  Who  Mended 
His  Ways. 

23 

IV. 

Joseph  . 

The  Dreamer  Whose  Dreams  Came 
True. 

3i 

V. 

Moses . 

The  Leader  and  Lawgiver  of  a 
Nation. 

39 

VI. 

Joshua . 

The  Courageous  Man  With  a  Hard 
Task. 

45 

VII. 

Saul . 

The  Man  Who  Abused  His  Oppor¬ 
tunities. 

5i 

VIII. 

David . 

The  Self-Conqueror  Who  Became 
King. 

57 

IX. 

Nehemiah . 

The  Man  With  Many  Enemies. 

65 

X. 

Job  ...... 

72 

The  Man  of  Undeserved  Suffering. 

7 


Contents 


8 

XI.  Isaiah . 78 

The  World  Prophet  and  Statesman. 

XII.  Jeremiah . 85 

The  Man  Who  Kept  Faith  Under 
Hard  Limitations. 

XIII.  Ezekiel . 91 

The  Man  Who  Had  Great  Visions. 

XIV.  Daniel . 98 

The  Man  Who  Made  Advantage 
Out  of  Disadvantage. 

XV.  Habakkuk . 104 

The  Man  Who  Questioned  God's 
World  Policies. 

XVI.  Matthew . no 

The  Man  Who  Saw  World  Hopes 
Realized. 

XVII.  Mark . 118 

The  Man  Who  Wrote  of  Christ's 
Power. 

XVIII.  Luke . 126 

The  Man  Who  Broadcasted  the 
Gospel  Good  News. 

XIX.  John  .  .  .  .  .  .133 

The  Man  Who  Listened-in  Across 
the  Void . 

XX.  Peter .  141 

The  Ascending  Man. 

XXI.  Paul  .  .  ...  149 

The  Man  Who  Bettered  City  Con¬ 
ditions . 


I 


ABRAHAM 

THE  MAN  WHO  DARED  TO  TRUST  GOD 

A  New  Beginning  was  made  in  the  history  of 
mankind  with  Abraham.  He  stands  out  as  a  com¬ 
manding  figure.  He  was  of  the  same  stuff  that  great 
leaders  of  men  and  explorers  are  made.  He  had 
daring.  He  had  splendid  executive  ability.  He  was 
large-hearted  and  far-sighted.  He  would  have  made 
an  eminent  statesman  or  victorious  general  had  the 
opportunity  presented  itself.  Yet  he  is  known  for 
none  of  these  qualities  which  are  written  large  on  the 
face  of  his  career.  He  is  known,  however,  as  “  The 
Man  Who  Dared  To  Trust  God  ”  upon  what  seemed 
to  be  a  bare  promise.  He  left  kindred  and  home 
and  country  upon  the  call  of  God — the  God  whom 
his  neighbours  did  not  know,  and  did  not  care  for. 
He  was  a  pioneer  Pilgrim  facing  a  new  land  with  new 
and  difficult  things  to  meet  and  conquer.  He  headed 
a  new  order  of  a  spiritual  kingdom  of  those  who 
strive  to  obey  the  “  Inner  Voice  ”  and  to  be  not  only 
worshippers  but  friends  of  the  “  Living  God.”  A 
Gentile,  he  was  the  founder  of  the  Israelitish  Nation. 
The  name  "  Israel  ”  was  first  given  to  his  grandson, 
Jacob. 

The  Environment  of  any  man  is  often  looked 
upon  as  having  much  to  do  in  shaping  his  life. 
Favourable  circumstances  make  favoured  men. 

9 


to  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


Unfavourable  surroundings  keep  men  down. 
Such  is  the  theory.  But  this  theory  did  not  work 
with  Abraham.  He  lived  in  the  midst  of  the  basest 
kind  of  idolatry  yet  of  an  advanced  civilization. 
Chaldea,  long  before  the  time  of  Abraham,  was  a 
well-settled  country.  There  were  great  cities  with 
magnificent  temples,  splendid  palaces,  and  exten¬ 
sive  libraries.  The  arts  were  well  known;  there 
were  skilled  workers  in  fabrics,  metals,  stones,  im¬ 
plements,  weapons  and  armaments.  Time  was  di¬ 
vided  then  as  it  is  now.  There  was  a  post-office 
system;  sealed  letters  could  be  sent.  The  parcel 
post  was  in  full  operation.  The  city  of  Ur  was 
one  of  the  most  splendid  of  all  the  cities.  It  was 
the  seat  of  the  great  temple  of  the  moon-god. 
Looked  at  from  the  outside,  nothing  seemed  fairer 
than  this  highly  adorned  civilization.  But  inside  it 
was  honeycombed  with  the  basest  sort  of  immoral¬ 
ities.  The  people's  religion  exalted  the  evils  that 
destroyed  all  virtue,  and  finally  killed  the  civiliza¬ 
tion.  The  recovered,  dug-up,  monuments  of  this 
age  show  that  all  the  Bible  says  of  this  worst  side 
of  Chaldean  civilization  to  be  literally  true. 

Had  Abraham  been  a  product  of  his,  this,  en¬ 
vironment  we  would  never  have  heard  of  him.  He 
was  called  to  come  out.  He  came  out — to  head  a 
new  movement. 

The  Significance  of  Abraham's  life  is  religious. 
To  miss  this  is  to  miss  the  whole  meaning  of  the 
narrative.  While  other  men  seek  for  glory,  or 
honour,  or  simply  to  live  comfortably,  Abraham  is  de¬ 
sirous  only  of  obeying  God.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that 


Abraham 


11 


of  the  many  eminent  men  of  his  times — mighty  kings, 
merchant  princes,  eminent  scholars — Abraham's 
name  alone  has  attained  universal  fame. 

The  Account  of  Abraham's  life  is  found  in  Gen¬ 
esis  11 :  26-25 : 10.  The  salient  features,  by  chapters, 
are:  First — chapter  11:26-32 — Birth  of  Abraham. 
Removal  of  Terah  with  Abraham  and  his  wife,  from 
Ur  of  the  Chaldees  to  Haran.  It  seems  to  have  been 
the  intention  of  Terah  to  go  to  Canaan  but  he  only 
got  to  Haran  and  died  there.  Second — chapter  12 — 
Abraham  receives  his  call  with  its  promises  and  bless¬ 
ings. 

He  leaves  Haran  for  Canaan  with  his  wife,  Sarah, 
and  his  nephew  Lot.  Shortly,  finding  a  famine,  he 
goes  down  into  Egypt.  Third — chapter  13 — Abra¬ 
ham  returns  out  of  Egypt  to  Canaan.  He  becomes 
very  rich.  There  is  strife  between  the  herdmen  of 
Abraham  and  Lot.  Abraham  to  settle  all  disputes 
offers  Lot  his  choice  of  land.  Lot  takes  the  best 
and  in  doing  so  pitches  his  tent  toward  Sodom. 
Fourth — chapter  14 — Battle  of  the  kings.  Lot  is 
taken  prisoner  and  is  rescued  by  Abraham.  Fifth — 
chapter  15 — Renewal  of  the  great  promises  of  bless¬ 
ing  and  prosperity  to  Abraham.  Sixth — chapters  16 
and  17 — The  desire  of  Abraham  and  Sarah  for  a 
child.  Seventh — chapters  18  and  19 — A  child  is 
promised  Abraham  and  Sarah.  The  destruction  of 
Sodom  is  foretold  to  Abraham.  He  pleads  for  the 
city  but  it  is  so  evil  that  even  Abraham  gives  up. 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  are  destroyed  while  Lot  is 
saved.  Eighth — chapters  20  and  21 — Abraham  goes 
to  Gerar.  A  son  is  born  to  Sarah.  Ninth — chapters 


12 


Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


22  to  25 :  8 — The  asked-for  sacrifice  of  Isaac.  Get¬ 
ting  a  wife  for  Isaac.  Death  of  Abraham. 

The  Call  of  Abraham  (12: 1-3). — What  was  it? 
How  did  he  become  aware  of  it?  Was  it  an  audible 
voice?  No  one  can  answer  these  questions  because 
Abraham  is  not  here  to  tell  us.  We  know  that  what¬ 
ever  it  was,  and  however  it  was  given  to  him,  he 
acted  upon  it  to  the  extent  of  completely  severing  all 
his  relations  with  his  former  associates  and  going  to 
a  far-away  land  with  his  wife,  his  nephew,  Lot,  and 
his  retainers.  He  journeyed  southward  to  Canaan. 
For  a  man,  seventy-five  years  old,  with  fixed  habits, 
it  was  a  big  change.  We  do  not  read  that  he  ever 
returned  to  Haran,  even  to  make  a  visit.  He  did  not 
go  to  better  his  condition  in  the  world,  or  for 
honour,  or  preferment,  or  for  the  sake  of  adventure. 
It  was  for  conscience’  sake.  At  the  time  it  seemed 
to  him  that  he  was  giving  up  everything,  except  his 
immediate  family,  and  going  into  certain  physical 
hardships,  but  he  was  more  than  willing  if  God 
wanted  it  so. 

Elements  of  the  call: 

First:  It  was  a  call  to  face  difficulties  which  from 
their  unknown  character  seemed  to  assume  a  terrify¬ 
ing  aspect. 

Second:  It  was  to  advocate  the  cause  of  God  whom 
no  one  knew  anything  about  and  whom  no  one  cared 
about.  If  His  cause  prevailed  it  meant  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  old  religion  of  the  land.  It  would  brook 
no  compromises.  In  these  days  we  do  well  to  think 
of  what  a  radical  change  this  meant  in  all  depart¬ 
ments  of  life. 


Abraham 


*3 

Third:  It  was  to  break  up  the  old  and  valued  as¬ 
sociations  of  years. 

Fourth:  It  was  a  call  to  stand  for  that  which  vio¬ 
lated  all  the  social  and  national  customs. 

Fifth:  It  meant  the  founding  of  a  new  spiritual 
order  and  the  building  up  of  a  nation  to  carry  on 
this  new  work.  Why?  What  we  see  now,  and  that 
which  every  schoolboy  knows,  about  the  utter  de¬ 
struction  of  the  old  and  evil  civilizations  of  Babylon 
and  Assyria  and  all  those  old  nations,  God  foresaw 
when  He  called  Abraham.  He  wanted  a  man  to  do 
this  work,  which  He  knew  must  be  done,  and  He 
selected  Abraham  to  do  it. 

The  Promises  to  Abraham. — Men  are  always 
trying  to  get  other  men  to  do  things  for  them  with¬ 
out  any  compensation.  They  attempt  to  drive  sharp 
bargains.  They  strive  to  buy  in  a  cheap  market  and 
sell  in  a  dear  one.  Whenever  possible  they  cut 
wages.  Those  who  work  for  wages  too  often  strive 
to  do  as  little  work  as  they  can  while,  at  the  same 
time,  they  endeavour  to  advance  their  pay.  This 
makes  the  hardship  of  life.  There  is  enough  for  all 
but  a  few  try  to  comer  the  market — to  get  all  they 
can  and  to  give  back  as  little  as  they  can.  Not  so 
God.  Read  carefully  the  promises  God  made  to 
Abraham  and  note  how  much  He  promises  him  and 
ow  often  the  promises  are  repeated.  Note  also,  as 
ve  can  note  now,  after  all  these  years,  that  there  is 
~>t  one  single  promise  that  has  not  been  more  than 
’eemed  and  made  good. 

re  count  at  least  six  of  God’s  promises  to  Abra- 
First — chapter  12 :  2,  3 — “  And  I  will  make  of 


14  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

thee  a  great  nation,  and  I  will  bless  thee  and  make 
thy  name  great;  and  thou  shalt  be  a  blessing:  And 
I  will  bless  them  that  bless  thee,  and  curse  him  that 
curseth  thee:  and  in  thee  shall  all  families  of  the 
earth  be  blessed.”  Second — chapter  12:  7.  Third — 
chapter  13 : 14  to  17 — “  And  I  will  make  thy  seed  as 
the  dust  of  the  earth,”  etc.  Fourth — chapters  15,  17 
and  18  contain  just  one  promise  after  another. 
Fifth — chapter  21 : 12.  Sixth — chapter  22 : 17,  18 — - 
“  That  in  blessing  I  will  bless  thee  and  in  multiplying 
I  will  multiply  thy  seed  as  the  stars  of  the  heaven, 
or  as  the  sand  which  is  upon  the  seashore;  and  thy 
seed  shall  possess  the  gate  of  his  enemies;  and  in 
thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed.” 
Abraham,  giving  up  all  and  not  knowing  how  it 
would  come  out,  has  certainly  been  well  repaid.  This 
same  thought  of  a  liberal,  and  a  rewarding  God,  runs 
all  through  the  New  Testament  See  Matthew 
25 : 34-40. 

The  Lapses  of  Abraham  are  recorded  with  equal 
fidelity  with  those  of  his  excellencies.  Take  the  case 
where  he  denied  his  wife  because  he  failed  to  trust 
God  to  the  uttermost — 12 : 11-20 — and  received  a  lec¬ 
ture  from  the  king  of  Egypt.  There  is  no  attempt 
to  gloss  over  this  account.  There  is  this  to  be  said 
of  Abraham  that  he  repents  of  his  lapses  and  trie 
to  do  better.  Many  a  man  lapses  and  continues 
lapse  with  no  thought  of  doing  better. 

The  Magnanimity  of  this  great  man  is  she 
in  his  treatment  of  Lot,  his  nephew.  First — ch? 

13 — Abraham  permits  Lot  to  choose  all  the  bes 
for  his  share,  when  there  is  a  dispute.  He  do 


Abraham 


*5 


even  ask  for  arbitration.  “You/'  he  says,  “take 
what  you  like  and  T  will  take  what  is  left.”  Here  is 
a  man  who  will  give  up  all  rather  than  quarrel.  Sec¬ 
ond — chapter  14 — When  Lot  is  captured  and  taken 
away  by  looters,  Abraham  does  not  say — “  It  serves 
him  right  for  choosing  the  best  land  and  leaving  me 
the  worst.”  He  organizes  a  force  to  rescue  Lot  and 
rescues  him.  Third — chapter  18 — Again,  when 
Abraham  learns  that  Sodom^  where  Lot  lives,  is 
about  to  be  destroyed,  he  pleads  for  it. 

The  Man  Who  Dared  to  Trust  God,  not  simply 
to  say  he  believed  Him  but  to  trust  Him  implicitly, 
is  this  same  man  Abraham.  He  cast  himself  out  on 
His  promises  and  went  out  “  not  knowing  whither 
he  went.”  But  he  went  because  God  told  him  to  go. 
That  was  enough.  There  is  many  a  man,  to-day, 
who  feels  that  he  ought  to  do  certain  things.  He 
knows  that  God  has  spoken  to  him  but  he  does  not 
dare  to  do  what  he  knows  he  ought  to  do.  Life  is  a 
dare.  It  is  a  venture  for  every  man.  No  one  can 
predict  the  outcome  of  the  venture.  Business  is  a 
dare.  Marriage  is  a  dare.  Religion  is  a  dare.  How 
do  we  know  that  the  God  in  whom  we  believe  will 
keep  His  word  with  us?  We  have  to  trust  Him  as 
Abraham  did.  We  have  to  rely  on  His  promises. 

The  Blessing  of  Abraham’s  Life ! — Who  can 
measure  it?  When  God  called  Abraham,  out  from 
his  country  and  his  people,  He  is  reported  as  saying, 
“  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation,  and  I  will  bless 
thee  and  make  thy  name  great:  and  thou  shalt  be 
a  blessing.”  All  this  has  been  literally  fulfilled.  He 
is  the  father  of  a  great  nation.  His  name  is  great — 


16  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


it  is  revered  by  the  adherents  of  three  great  religions, 
The  Christian,  The  Jewish  and  The  Mohammedan. 
He  has  made  it  easier  to  worship  and  love  God. 
He  showed  how  a  man  can  live  uprightly  under  the 
most  trying  circumstances. 

Questions. — What  can  be  said  about  the  new 
beginning  God  made  with  Abraham?  What  can  be 
said  about  the  environment  of  Abraham’s  life? 
What  is  the  significance  of  his  life?  Give  some  ac¬ 
count  of  the  nine  points  noted  in  the  account  of 
Abraham’s  life.  How  did  Abraham  become  aware 
of  his  call?  What  can  be  said  of  this  call?  What 
can  be  said  of  the  promises  ?  Are  Abraham’s  lapses 
recorded  with  the  same  fidelity  as  his  excellencies? 
What  can  be  said  of  his  magnanimity  and  of  his 
daring  to  trust  God  ?  What  can  be  said  of  the  bless¬ 
ing  of  Abraham’s  life? 


II 


ISAAC 

THE  CHALLENGE  OF  OBEDIENCE 

The  Story  of  Isaac  is  told  in  Genesis  21:3  to 
35 :  29.  He  did  not  have  the  striking  characteristics 
of  Abraham,  or  of  his  famous  son,  Jacob.  He  suf¬ 
fers,  somewhat,  from  being  placed  between  two  such 
rugged,  outstanding  characters.  Yet,  in  his  own  way, 
he  is  equally  eminent. 

His  Youth  was  spent  under  very  different  sur¬ 
roundings  from  that  of  his  father.  His  home-life 
was  a  sheltered  one.  As  the  son  of  a  great  man,  of 
large  influence,  rich  in  gold,  silver,  land  and  large 
herds  of  cattle,  he  was  treated  with  great  respect 
and  honour.  He  was  subjected  to  none  of  the  temp¬ 
tations  of  a  heathen  city,  where  the  very  temples  of 
the  gods  invited  to  a  dissolute  life.  His  bringing-up 
was  by  a  father  and  mother  who  believed  in  the  one 
true  God.  He  was  the  one  through  whom  the  prom¬ 
ise  of  “  The  Blessing  of  the  Whole  World  Was  To 
Come.,, 

The  Choice  of  a  Plan  of  Life. — No  matter  where 
one  may  be  born  or  under  what  favourable  or  un¬ 
favourable  circumstances,  there  must  always  come  a 
time  when  the  choice  has  to  be  made  of  a  plan  of 
life.  The  sculptor  takes  a  lump  of  clay  in  his  hands* 
He  kneads  it  and  moulds  it.  He  holds  it  up  and  you 

11 


18  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

see  the  face  of  a  satyr  or  a  saint.  Isaac,  being  of  a 
meditative  turn  of  mind,  must  have  often  pondered 
upon  what  he  would  be  and  do.  How  could  he  make 
his  life  count?  So  far  as  wealth  was  concerned — 
he  was  heir  to  that.  So  far  as  honour  was  concerned 
— every  one  honoured  him.  In  deciding  what  to  do 
there  is  the  difficulty  of  having  things,  and  the  diffi¬ 
culty  of  not  having  them. 

The  Challenge  of  Obedience. — It  is  a  singular 
thing  that  when  a  man  does  not  openly  choose  for 
himself  what  he  will  be,  and  do,  then  the  choice  is 
thrust  upon  him  and  he  is  compelled  to  choose.  This 
was  the  case  with  Isaac,  as  we  shall  see  later.  He 
had  decision  after  decision  thrust  upon  him.  That 
he  chose  so  well  is  greatly  to  his  credit.  There  is  a 
challenge  to  disobedience  as  well  as  obedience.  The 
temptation  to  break  out  into  prodigality — to  burst 
the  bands  that  bind  us  in  our  places — is  inherent  in 
many  hearts.  Some  people  call  it  the  desire  for 
liberty.  Others  give  it  a  truer  name  in  the  desire 
for  license.  But  much  more  than  the  challenge  to 
disobedience  do  we  have  to  meet  the  challenge  to 
obedience — to  keep  within  and  obey  the  laws  of 
physical,  mental  and  moral  health.  To  Isaac  came 
the  challenge  to  preserve,  and  build  up  that  heritage 
that  came  to  him  through  his  father  and  his  father’s 
God. 

Three  Incidents  in  Isaac’s  Life  show  the  temper 
of  the  man.  We  judge  every  one  by  the  way  in  which 
he  meets  trials  that  are  thrust  upon  him. 

The  First  Incident  is  that  of  His  Ordered 
Sacrifice.— -The  account  of  this  is  found  in  Genesis, 


Isaac 


l9 


chapter  22.  The  first  three  verses  read  as  follows: 
“  And  it  came  to  pass  after  these  things  that  God 
did  tempt  Abraham,  and  said  unto  him,  Abraham: 
and  he  said,  Behold  here  I  am.  And  he  said,  Take 
now  thy  son,  thine  only  son,  Isaac,  whom  thou  lovest, 
and  get  thee  into  the  land  of  Moriah;  and  offer  him 
there  for  a  burnt  offering  upon  one  of  the  mountains 
of  which  I  will  tell  thee  of.  And  Abraham  rose  up 
early  in  the  morning,  and  saddled  his  ass  and  took 
two  of  his  young  men  with  him,  and  Isaac,  his  son, 
and  clave  the  wood  for  the  burnt  offering,  and  rose 
up,  and  went  unto  the  place  of  which  God  had  told 
him.” 

The  singular  thing  about  this  narrative  is  that 
Isaac  seemed  to  understand  the  part  he  was  to  play, 
as  the  burnt  offering,  and  yet  he  made  no  objection. 
He  did  ask  his  father  where  the  burnt  offering  was 
to  come  from.  But  Isaac  made  no  objection  to  be 
bound  and  placed  upon  the  pile  of  wood  in  readiness 
for  the  knife  and  the  fire.  Here  was  a  great  chal¬ 
lenge  of  obedience.  Isaac  certainly  stood  the  test. 
In  regard  to  this  incident  it  should  be  said  that  in 
those  times  human  sacrifices  were  common  things 
in  religious  rites.  It  was  a  big  thing  for  Isaac  to 
submit.  We  revolt  at  it  because  of  our  long  train¬ 
ing  in  Christian  principles.  In  regard  to  this  whole 
matter  Professor  Phelps  says  in  his  book — “  Human 
Nature  in  the  Bible  ” — “  I  do  not  share  in  the  com¬ 
mon  opinion  that  Abraham  did  wrong  in  offering  up 
his  son  Isaac  (and  in  Isaac’s  consent  to  be  offered 
up).  On  the  contrary  it  is  one  of  the  most  splendid 
of  all  his  recorded  deeds.  .  .  .  There  are  to-day. 


20 


Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


however,  many  conscientious  objectors;  they  say  that 
Abraham’s  obedience  to  God  is  fine,  but  when  he 
was  asked  to  give  the  life  of  his  own  son,  he  would 
have  shown  more  nobility  and  righteousness  had  he 
flatly  refused.  .  .  .  Yet  men  in  our  day  not  only 

consider  it  right  to  give  the  lives  of  their  sons  for 
what  they  regard  as  a  higher  call,  but  are  universally 
honoured  for  doing  so.  What  would  be  the  general 
opinion  of  a  man  who,  during  the  years  of  1914- 
1918,  had  said,  ‘No;  I  love  my  son  too  much  to 
sacrifice  his  life  at  his  country’s  command;  it  can¬ 
not  be  right  for  a  father  to  give  up  his  own  son/ 
Millions  of  parents  followed  Abraham’s  example  in 
response  to  what  they  believed  the  call  of  duty.  They 
not  only  did  not  feel  any  shame — they  felt  exalted. 
Do  you  remember  President  Lincoln’s  letter  to  the 
mother  who  had  sacrificed  five  sons  for  her  coun¬ 
try  ?  ”  All  honour  to  Isaac  who  stood  such  a  test  as 
the  one  above. 

It  should  be  kept  in  mind,  in  reading  this  story, 
that  the  narrative  shows  that  it  was  not  the  inten¬ 
tion  of  God  that  Isaac  should  be  sacrificed.  It  is 
related  as  a  test  and  challenge  of  obedience. 

The  Second  Incident  is  that  of  His  Marriage 
(Genesis  24: 1-67). — This  is  one  of  the  most  beau¬ 
tifully  written  chapters  in  the  Bible.  It  is  a  love 
story  full  of  dramatic  interest.  Abraham  is  very  de* 
sirous  that  his  son  shall  be  happily  and  well  married 
— that  it  shall  be  a  suitable  marriage  with  one  of  his 
.own  station  in  life,  and  suited  to  him  in  every  way. 
The  narrative  seems  to  imply  that  Isaac  was  fully 
Informed  of  all  the  arrangements  made  whereby 


Isaac 


21 


Rebekah  finally  became  his  wife.  Everything  was 
aboveboard.  There  was  nothing  secret  or  clandes¬ 
tine  in  the  whole  affair  whereby  Isaac  obtained  a 
good  wife.  Here  the  challenge  of  obedience  to  right 
things  was  met  once  more  by  Isaac.  He  found  hap¬ 
piness  and  great  happiness  inside  the  law  of  marriage 
in  the  regular  order. 

The  Third  Incident  is  that  of  Giving  Up  to 
Others. — The  story  is  told  in  Genesis  26 : 17-22. 
It  is  the  narrative  of  how  Isaac’s  herdsmen  digged  a 
well  to  water  their  flocks  and  herds  and  their  right 
to  the  well  was  disputed.  They  digged  a  second 
well  and  again  their  right  was  disputed.  They  left 
both  these  wells  in  possession  of  those  who  objected 
to  their  having  them  and  went  and  digged  a  third 
well  where  they  had  peaceful  possession.  Here, 
again,  we  see  Isaac  meeting  the  challenge  of  obedi¬ 
ence  to  a  higher  law. 

What  is  the  higher  law f  How  does  it  work? 
There  are  three  rules  by  which  people  live  and  have 
things.  First — Get  all  you  can  and  give  back  as 
little  as  you  can  for  what  you  get.  This  is  the  atti¬ 
tude  of  the  sponge,  if  the  sponge  can  have  an  atti¬ 
tude.  It  is  the  soaking  up  of  everything  possible. 
Observing  this  rule  makes  for  unhappiness  and  bit¬ 
terness.  Second — Give  an  exact  equivalent  for  what 
you  get — no  more — no  less.  For  a  good  word — give 
a  good  word.  For  an  evil  word — an  evil  word.  For 
a  blow — a  blow.  The  man  who  observes  this  rule 
never  gets  on  very  far — he  is  always  watching  what 
the  other  man  is  going  to  do  to  him  and  he  wants  to 
be  first  to  do  the  other  man.  Third — Do  a  little  more 


22  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


than  is  asked  of  you.  Be  a  little  kinder  than  is  ex¬ 
pected.  Give  a  better  bargain  than  the  buyer  looked 
for.  Give  up  when  your  opponent  does  not  expect 
it.  Isaac  seems  to  have  fully  understood  and  acted 
on  this  higher,  or  third  law,  in  the  case  of  the  dis¬ 
puted  wells. 

Questions. — Where  is  the  story  of  Isaac  told? 
How  does  he  differ  from  his  father  and  son?  What 
can  be  said  about  his  youth  ?  What  about  the  choice 
of  a  plan  of  life?  The  challenge  of  obedience? 
What  three  incidents  in  Isaac’s  life  show  his  temper 
as  a  man?  What  is  the  first  incident  and  its  teach¬ 
ing?  What  the  second?  What  the  third? 


Ill 


JACOB 

THE  SHARP  TRADER  WHO  MENDED  HIS  WAYS 

The  World  Famous  Twins. — Esau  and  Jacob. 
Their  birth  and  what  they  did,  when  they  grew  up, 
we  find  recorded  in  Genesis  25 :  21-49  :  33. 

Characteristics  (Genesis  25  :  27). — “And  the  boys 
grew:  and  Esau  was  a  cunning  hunter,  a  man  of  the 
field;  and  Jacob  was  a  plain  man,  dwelling  in  tents.” 
It  is  possible,  from  this  and  other  descriptive  pas¬ 
sages,  to  get  a  very  clear  picture  of  what  these  men 
were  like. 

Esau,  “  a  man  of  the  field,”  a  hunter  with  a  quick 
ear  and  a  keen  eye;  a  hairy  body  burned  black  by 
the  sun;  no  man  knew  the  haunts  of  game  better 
than  he.  But  he  lacked  a  sense  of  moral  values.  A 
*  son  of  Isaac  and  Rebekah  and  presumably — although 

not  really — the  heir  of  the  promises  given  to  Abra¬ 
ham — Genesis  25 : 23 — he  would  have  none  of  the 
religion  of  his  father  and  mother.  He  sought  the 
society  and  companionship  of  the  roistering  Canaan- 
ites.  He  participated  in  their  pagan  rites  and 
heathen  dances.  He  took  to  himself  two  Canaanite 
wives.  From  start  to  finish  of  his  career  he  is  the 
same. 

Jacob ,  “  a  plain  man  dwelling  in  tents.”  A  shrewd 
man  with  a  keen  mind  that  can  look  far  into  the 

23 


24  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

future.  He  had  great  tenacity  of  purpose.  He  could 
wait — when  he  wanted  anything — for  years  to  get  it. 
Witness  his  waiting  fourteen  years — and  serving  a 
hard  master — to  get  his  wife  Rachel.  In  the  matter 
of  getting  the  birthright — before  this — from  Esau  he 
waited  for  just  exactly  the  right  time  and  then  he 
sprung  the  trap.  He  was  a  sharp  trader  with  an 
eye,  ever  open,  to  further  his  own  interests.  He 
seems  to  have  had  two  natures  struggling  within 
him  for  the  ascendency;  that  of  the  man  who  will 
get  what  he  wants  by  fair  means  or  foul  and  that 
which  desires  to  be  true  to  all  that  is  right  and  good 
and  to  come  into  close  personal  communion  with 
God.  It  is  the  struggle  of  these  two  natures — and 
the  triumph  of  the  better — that  we  watch  in  the  rec¬ 
ord  of  his  career. 

A  Birthright  Despised  and  Sold  (Genesis  25 : 28- 
34). — This  is  not  only  the  story  of  an  age-old 
transaction.  It  is  right  up  to  the  minute.  This 
morning — every  morning — all  the  daily  newspapers 
had  it — with  a  change  of  names — on  their  front 
pages.  It  is  the  plot  of  “  The  Best  Seller  ”  and  the 
latest  magazine  story.  Inherited  honour,  truth, 
chastity,  a  good  name,  wealth — one  or  two  or  all — 
are  in  the  possession  of  those  who  are  willing  to  sell 
them  and  do  sell  them  for  a  little  sense  gratification. 
The  sharp  trader,  Jacob,  is  always  ready  to  buy  and 
does  buy,  as  of  old  for  a  mess  of  pottage.  The  bit¬ 
ter  cry  of  Esau,  the  victimized,  is  ever  with  us.  The 
original  story  is  that  Esau  came  in  faint,  from  hunt¬ 
ing,  and  found  Jacob  cooking  some  red  pottage.  The 
smell  of  it  was  good  to  a  man  as  hungry  as  he  was. 


Jacob 


25 


He  wanted  some  at  once.  Jacob,  knowing  his  nature, 
that  he  would  give  anything  to  gratify  his  appetite, 
saw  that  the  time  was  ripe  to  get  the  birthright.  The 
bargain  was  struck.  Jacob  made  Esau  swear  to  the 
bargain.  He  did  so  gladly;  for  at  the  time  he  de¬ 
spised  his  birthright  as  a  thing  afar  off.  What  cared 
he  so  long  as  he  could  satisfy  a  present  appetite ! 

The  Stolen  Blessing  (Genesis  27:1-41). — After 
the  sale  of  the  birthright  the  days  come  and  go. 
Things  seem  much  the  same  as  before.  A  man 
crosses  the  line  between  evil  and  good,  honesty  and 
dishonesty,  virtue  and  no  virtue  and  seems  to  come 
back  much  as  he  was  before.  Why  should  he  worry 
or  fret  himself  about  the  payment  for  his  indiscre¬ 
tions?  Nothing  has  happened  to  him.  In  fact  he 
counts  himself  quite  superior  to  the  man  who  does 
not  cross  the  line  between  good  and  evil.  So  it  must 
have  seemed  to  Esau  that  after  all  he  had  got  the 
better  of  Jacob,  his  canny  brother.  But  wait!  He 
has  forgotten  that  the  mortgage  he  gave  on  his  birth¬ 
right  is  about  to  be  foreclosed.  He  cannot  watch 
everything.  His  mother  is  looking  out  for  Jacob. 
When  she  hears  Isaac  ask  Esau  to  go  and  get  him 
some  venison,  that  he  may  eat  and  give  him  the 
“  Birthright  Blessing  ”  before  he  dies,  she  is  all  at¬ 
tention.  How  Esau  must  have  laughed  to  himself 
that  although  he  had  sold  his  birthright  he  would  get 
it  after  all.  Esau  goes  to  get  the  venison.  Mean¬ 
time  Rebekah  gets  very  busy  with  Jacob  and  pre¬ 
paring  a  savoury  meal,  she  fixes  him  up  to  represent 
Esau ;  sends  him  in  to  Isaac,  who  is  deceived  into 
giving  him  the  “  Birthright  Blessing.”  No  excuse. 


26  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


whatever,  is  given  in  this  narrative  for  the  deception 
of  Rebekah  and  Jacob,  in  stealing  the  blessing.  It  is 
stated  as  a  fact.  Esau  returns  to  find  the  “  Birth¬ 
right  Blessing ”  bestowed  on  Jacob,  “And  he  cried 
with  an  exceeding  bitter  cry.” 

The  day  of  reckoning  had  come,  as  it  always 
comes.  Esau  begs  and  pleads  and  threatens  but  he 
has  lost  the  chief  blessing.  Now  he  hates  Jacob  and 
threatens  to  kill  him — forgetting  that  he,  himself,  is 
the  one  upon  whom  the  blame  should  rest. 

Breaking  Home  Ties  (Genesis  27:42-28:22). — 
It  is  one  thing  when  a  young  man  voluntarily  goes 
away  from  home  to  better  himself.  It  is  quite  an¬ 
other  when  he  is  forced  to  leave  home,  on  account 
of  something  he  has  done,  that  makes  it  impossible 
for  him  to  remain.  Jacob  was  forced  out  because 
of  the  threat  of  Esau  to  kill  him.  Jacob  is  now  get¬ 
ting  a  little  of  his  punishment- — more  later  on.  Re¬ 
bekah,  ever  looking  out  for  Jacob,  advises  him  to  go 
away  for  a  while  until  Esau’s  anger  shall  cool.  A 
virtue  is  made  of  the  necessity  and  it  is  given  out 
that  he  is  going  to  Haran  to  get  a  wife.  There  is  no 
enthusiastic  send-off  for  Jacob.  He  goes  out  alone 
and  unattended.  His  deception  does  not  seem  as 
good  to  him  as  it  seemed  a  while  ago.  He  has  the 
“  Birthright  Blessing 99  but  what  good  is  it  going  to 
do  him?  It  seems,  just  now,  to  be  sending  him  out 
into  a  cold  and  unfriendly  world. 

A  Wonderful  Dream  (Genesis  28:10-22). — The 
first  night  of  a  man  away  from  home,  who  has  never 
been  away  from  home  before,  is  very  trying.  Jacob 
ytas  led  to  think  of  many  things.  He  must  have 


Jacob 


27 


wondered  if,  after  all,  he  had  been  so  very  sharp 
and  shrewd.  He  had  doubtless  prided  himself  on  the 
way  he  had  got  ahead  of  thick-witted  Esau  but  now 
he  must  have  asked  himself  if  it  really  paid — since 
his  grasping  nature  had  sent  him  out  into  a  desert 
place.  He  was  not  nearly  as  sure  of  himself  as  he 
had  been.  Thinking  these  thoughts  he  fell  asleep, 
with  a  stone  for  a  pillow.  He  had  a  wonderful 
dream.  There  are  those  who  tell  us  that  our  real 
nature  comes  out  in  dreams.  There  we  come  face 
to  face  with  our  real  desires  and  hopes.  It  may  be 
that  humbled  by  his  failure  to  get  on  through  his 
shrewdness  Jacob’s  better  nature  was  coming  to  the 
front.  Anyway  he  had  a  dream  of  a  great  staircase 
with  the  angels  ascending  and  descending  upon  it 
and  God  standing  at  the  top  and  declaring  that  He 
renewed  for  him  the  promises  given  to  Abraham — 
Genesis  28 : 13,  14.  Jacob  here  makes  vows  and  a 
covenant  with  God.  The  better  nature  of  this  man 
is  coming  to  the  front.  But  he  has  to  be  sorely  tried 
as  we  shall  see  a  little  farther  on. 

Serving  Fourteen  Years  for  a  Wife  (Genesis 
29:1-31:55). — The  shrewd,  sharp  trader  meets 
sooner  or  later  one  who  is  shrewder  and  sharper  than 
he  is.  A  man  who  is  always  trying  to  get  the  better 
of  other  people  will,  in  the  end,  find  his  match.  In 
due  course  of  time  Jacob  came  to  the  home  of  Laban, 
his  uncle,  an  exceedingly  kind,  affable  man,  who 
would  assure  you  most  cordially  that  everything  he 
had  was  at  your  disposal  and  then  he  would  turn 
around  and  fleece  you  of  your  last  penny.  Jacob 
fell  in  love  with  Rachel  the  daughter  of  Laban  and 


28  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


made  a  bargain  with  Laban  to  serve  for  her  for 
seven  years.  When  the  seven  years  were  up,  Laban 
tricked  him  and  he  had  to  serve  another  seven  years, 
without  pay.  The  narrative  as  it  goes  on  shows  how, 
in  sharp  bargaining  between  Laban  and  Jacob,  it 
was  diamond  cut  diamond. 

Back  Home  Again  (Genesis  32 : 1-33 :  20). — Rich 
in  flocks  and  herds,  and  with  his  family  Jacob  starts 
to  return  to  the  land  of  his  birth.  He  is  quite  elated 
by  what  he  possesses.  He  has  done  very  well  and 
he  will  exhibit  his  prosperity.  He  went  forth  with 
only  his  staff  and  now  he  returns  laden  with  goods. 
Jacob  sends  messengers  before  him  to  inform  Esau 
that  he  comes.  He  instructs  the  messengers  to  tell 
his  brother  of  his  flocks  and  herds  and  what  an  im¬ 
portant  man  he  has  become.  But  when  the  mes¬ 
sengers  come  to  Esau,  they  find  that  he  is  on  the 
march  with  four  hundred  men  to  meet  Jacob.  That 
is  the  answer  to  Jacob’s  boasting  of  his  prosperity. 
It  does  not  count  at  all  with  Esau.  Jacob  is  afraid 
and  rightly  so.  He  finally  arranges  matters  so  that 
he  will  try  to  save  his  family.  He  divides  his  flocks 
and  herds  into  bands  so  that  one  band  after  another 
shall  meet  Esau,  as  presents,  and  appease  him,  if 
possible.  There  is  no  disguising  that  he  is  in  fear 
of  his  life  and  that  of  his  family.  All  his  arrogance 
is  gone. 

The  Sharp  Trader  Who  Mended  His  Ways 

(Genesis  32:24-32). — “And  Jacob  was  left  alone  ” 
after  he  had  made  all  possible  arrangements  for  the 
safety  of  his  family.  That  verse  accurately  describes 
the  position  of  Jacob.  He  was  alone.  His  position, 


Jacob 


29 


his  flocks  and  his  herds,  counted  for  naught.  He 
felt  stripped  of  all  that  he  had  so  shrewdly  and  suc¬ 
cessfully  worked  for.  He  not  only  was  alone  but  he 
felt  the  isolation.  He  expected  nothing  now  but  that 
Esau  would  do  just  as  he  had  said  he  would  do, 
years  ago,  kill  him.  He  had  no  earthly  friend  to 
depend  upon.  He  could  do  nothing  himself.  There 
remained  only  God.  Take  the  narrative,  as  it  is.  God 
wrestled  with  Jacob.  Jacob  wrestled  with  God. 
What  is  there  out  of  the  way  here  ?  That  man  should 
wrestle  with  God  for  a  blessing — to  find,  in  the  end, 
peace  and  comfort  is  an  every-day  occurrence. 
Men,  who  come  to  the  end  of  their  resources,  must 
come  to  God.  There  is  no  other  to  whom  they  can 
come.  Anyway,  from  this  time  on,  Jacob  was  a 
changed  man.  He  had  mended  his  ways.  His  better 
nature  he  allowed  to  come  to  the  front.  His  feet 
were  on  the  upward  path.  God  could  and  did  use 
him,  as  He  had  not  aforetime.  He  had  prevailed 
with  God  and  God  had  prevailed  with  him.  The 
whole  story  is  that  of  a  man’s  giving  his  soul  a 
chance,  in  being  obedient  to  God,  and  in  coming  into 
communion  with  Him.  Esau  met  Jacob  in  the  ut¬ 
most  friendliness  and  would  receive  no  present  of 
him.  If  a  man  is  right  with  God,  he  is  right  with 
the  whole  world. 

The  Success  of  Jacob  was  not  so  much  in  his 
wealth  of  land  and  herds  as  it  was  in  what  he  was 
able  to  do  with  a  naturally  mean  and  grasping  dis¬ 
position.  And  the  change  in  this  disposition  was 
not  due  to  any  particular  resolutions  or  determina¬ 
tions  on  his  part  but  to  his  being  willing  to  follow, 


30  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

whole  heartedly,  the  promptings  of  his  God.  Jacob 
has  his  place  to-day  because  of  his  success  in  his 
inner  life. 

Questions. — Where  is  the  story  of  the  world 
famous  twins  found?  What  are  the  characteristics 
of  Esau  and  Jacob?  What  is  meant  by  a  birthright 
despised  and  sold?  What  can  be  said  of  the  stolen 
blessing?  How  did  Jacob  come  to  break  his  home 
ties?  Describe  the  wonderful  dream  of  Jacob  and 
what  it  was  to  him.  What  about  the  fourteen  years 
Jacob  served  for  Rachel?  In  coming  back  home 
what  did  Jacob  desire  to  do  first  of  all?  How  did 
the  sharp  trader  mend  his  ways  ?  What  was  the  suc¬ 
cess  of  Jacob’s  life? 


>w  3 ;  -  ^ 


IV 

JOSEPH 

THE  DREAMER  WHOSE  DREAMS  CAME  TRUE 

The  Life  of  Joseph,  from  the  time  he  was  seven¬ 
teen  years  old  until  his  death,  is  recorded  in  Genesis 
37 : 2  to  50 : _26._  He  was  the  son  of  Jacob  and  Rachel. 
Helias^been  called — “  The  Strongest  and  Most  Lov¬ 
able  Character  in  Genesis/’  Aside  from  his  own, 
individual  career,  he  is  an  episode  in  the  life  of 
Jacob. 

With  Joseph  closes  the  patriarchal  line — Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob — and  the  tribal  and  national  life  of 
“  The  Chosen  People  ”  begins  under  Moses.  We 
have  here  related  how  the  way  was  opened  for  this 
chosen  race  to  come  down  into  Egypt  and  develop 
and  grow  strong,  under  the  most  favourable  circum¬ 
stances.  Pharaoh  favoured  them  in  every  way.  Had 
they  remained  in  Canaan  during  this  formative  pe¬ 
riod,  they  would  not  have  been  permitted  to  expand, 
the  way  they  did,  without  exciting  the  jealousy  and 
bitter  enmity  of  their  warlike  neighbours.  As  it  was, 
after  they  had  multiplied  to  a  great  host  and  another 
Pharaoh  was  on  the  throne,  the  Egyptians  tried  to 
curb  their  growth  by  increasing  their  tasks  and  other 
means.  But  it  was  too  late.  They  had  become  too 
strong.  Strong  enough  to  go  through  the  grueling 
trial  of  “  The  Forty  Years’  Wandering  ”  and  to  make 


32  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

themselves,  in  due  time,  masters  of  Canaan — “  The 
Promised  Land,”  as  it  had  been  foretold. 

The  Shepherd  Boy  (Genesis  37:1-4).— His  life 
reads  like  a  romance.  From  the  sheepfold  he  was 
raised,  in  a  few  short  years,  to  be  the  chief  ruler, 
under  Pharaoh,  of  one  of  the  mightiest  empires  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  But  he  had  to  take  a  course 
in  the  University  of  Hard  Knocks  which  few  would 
care  to  undertake  even  for  so  great  a  prize. 

He  is  the  favoured  one  of  all  the  sons  of  Jacob. 
That  favour  is  shown  by  a  distinctive  dress.  It  was 
the  sort  of  coat  that  was  the  garb  of  the  aristocracy 
and  of  the  leisure  class,  while  his  brethren  were 
clothed  in  the  rough  and  ready  clothes  of  shepherds. 
Seen  together,  he  at  once  stood  forth  as  the  superior 
in  station.  No  wonder  that  he  aroused  the  jealousy 
and  hatred  of  his  brethren.  Jacob  ought  to  have 
known  better.  He  ought  to  have  looked  back  to  his 
own  boyhood  and  remembered  his  experiences  with 
his  brother,  Esau. 

The  Dreamer  (Genesis  37:5-11). — It  is  not  at  all 
strange  that  a  bright  lad,  of  seventeen  years  of  age, 
should  begin  to  think  and  dream  of  the  future,  of 
what  he  would  be  and  do.  Joseph  had  been  clothed 
in  a  garb  which  showed,  at  a  glance,  his  station  above 
his  brethren.  He  had  been  petted  and  pampered  at 
home.  What  more  natural  than  he  should  dream 
about  his  brethren  coming  and  bowing  down  to  him, 
in  sheaves  bowing  down  to  a  sheaf?  It  is  exactly 
in  the  line  of  his  bringing  up  that  he  should  dream 
again  of  the  sun  and  moon  and  eleven  stars  “  making 
obeisance  to  me.”  Again  we  see  the  attitude  of 


33 


Jacob  in  that  he  seems  to  acquiesce  in  the  outlook  of 
Joseph.  Looked  at,  however,  in  the  light  of  sub- 
sequent  events,  these  dreams  were  literally  fulfilled. 

The  whole  question  of  dreams  is  a  puzzling  one 
which  no  man  has  been  able  to  solve.  Some  dreams 
are  the  result  of  indigestion;  some  of  our  own  hopes 
and  fears;  some  of  the  favourable  or  unfavourable 
circumstances  in  which  we  happen  to  be  at  the  time. 
But,  after  all  the  possible  explanations  have  been 
made,  there  still  remain  dreams  which  we  cannot 
explain;  in  these  men  are  warned,  encouraged  and 
even  given  glimpses  of  the  future.  Modern  thought 
does  not  encourage  us  to  say  much  about  our  dreams 
or  to  rely  upon  them.  Joseph,  when  he  came  to  the 
place  where  his  brethren  and  his  father  did  obeisance 
to  him,  must  have  harked  back  to  his  dreams,  when 
he  was  a  lad  seventeen  years  old. 

Sold  into  Egypt  (Genesis  37 : 12-36  and  39 :  1- 
23). — If  Joseph’s  distinctive  dress  aroused  the  envy 
and  jealousy  of  his  brethren  much  more  his  dreams  so 
infuriated  them  that — “  They  conspired  against  him 
to  slay  him.”  An  opportunity  was  given  them  to 
wreak  their  hatred  upon  him  when  Jacob  sent  him  to 
them  to  see  how  they  were  getting  along.  As  he 
came  near  Dothan,  where  they  were  feeding  the 
flocks,  they  saw  him  afar  off — ‘'And  they  said  one  to 
another,  Behold  this  dreamer  cometh.  Come  now, 
therefore,  and  let  us  slay  him,  and  cast  him  into  some 
pit,  and  we  will  say,  Some  evil  beast  hath  devoured 
him:  and  we  shall  see  what  will  become  of  his 
dreams.”  Reuben  saves  Joseph  from  death  by  per¬ 
suading  the  rest  to  put  him  into  the  pit. 


34  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

The  pit  was  a  big  jug-shaped  cistern  with  a  small 
mouth  over  which  a  stone  could  be  placed.  This  sort 
of  cistern  was  dug  by  the  shepherds  to  store  water 
for  their  flocks  and  herds.  Escape  was  impossible 
for  Joseph.  Where  were  now  all  his  bright  hopes 
and  anticipations  ?  What  of  his  dreams  and  his  boy¬ 
ish  boastfulness?  He  could  cry  out  all  he  wanted 
to  and  no  one  would  hear  him.  His  brethren  cared 
so  little  that  they  sat  down  to  eat  and  drink.  Such 
an  experience  is  not  uncommon  in  life.  We  are  put 
into  a  pit  of  circumstances,  by  those  whom  we  re¬ 
garded  as  friends,  from  which  there  seems  no  escape. 
But  the  worst  was  yet  to  come. 

Slave  traders  come  that  way.  Joseph  is  taken  out 
of  the  pit  to  be  sold  as  a  slave.  The  lad,  set  above 
the  rest  of  the  household,  is  now  to  feel  the  lash  of 
the  slave-driver’s  whip.  Here  is  the  crucial  thing — 
will  Joseph  sink  to  the  level  of  the  slave?  Will  he 
give  up  his  integrity  and  his  dreams?  It  is  not  so 
much  what  happens  to  us,  outside;  it  is  whether  it 
gets  inside? 

That  Joseph  was  not  embittered  by  his  experience 
in  the  pit  and  being  sold  as  a  slave,  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  he  so  conducted  himself  in  the  house  of 
Potiphar,  an  officer  of  Pharaoh  and  captain  of  the 
guard,  that  he  speedily  rose  to  be  the  overseer  of  all 
he  had.  It  doubtless  seemed  good  to  Joseph  to  have 
this  recognition. 

This  prosperity,  alas,  was  short-lived.  Again  he  is 
cast  down — this  time  into  a  loathsome  Egyptian 
prison.  For  what?  For  standing  out  against  a 
great  temptation;  trying  to  do  the  right  thing  for 


Joseph  35 

himself  and  Potiphar.  Falsely  accused  of  attempting 
to  do  a  wrong — he  does  not  reply  to  the  accusation — 
he  understands  the  uselessness  of  it.  This  is  not  a 
rare  case.  One  has  sometimes  to  suffer,  in  silence, 
under  an  unjust  charge  or  make  things  worse  by 
speaking. 

The  Interpreter  of  Dreams  (Genesis  40:1  to 
41:36). — For  two  years  Joseph  remained  in  prison. 
There  seemed  no  prospect  of  anything  for  him  ex¬ 
cept  this  life.  He  had  no  outside  influence.  No  one 
to  help  him  except  his  God ;  to  Him  he  turned  in  his 
distress.  This  was  a  critical  period  with  Joseph, 
when  the  outlook  was  anything  but  encouraging. 
But  pursuing  the  same  policy  that  had  made  him 
overseer  of  Potiphar’s  house,  and  with  the  favour 
of  God,  he  became  the  master  of  the  prison — Genesis 
39 : 21-23. 

Now  happened  a  series  of  remarkable  events  which 
showed  that  Joseph  was  not  forgotten. 

The  chief  butler  and  the  chief  baker  of  Pharaoh 
were  put  in  prison.  They  speedily  dreamed — the 
chief  butler  of  a  vine  with  three  branches  and  of  his 
pressing  the  juice  of  the  ripe  grapes  into  Pharaoh’s 
cup — the  chief  baker  also  of  three  white  baskets  in 
which  were  all  manner  of  bakemeats  for  Pharaoh. 
They  were  entirely  at  a  loss  to  interpret  the  dreams, 
and  were  very  sad.  They  gladly  accepted  Joseph’s  of¬ 
fer  to  interpret  their  dreams.  To  the  chief  butler  he 
was  able  to  say  that  within  three  days  he  would  be 
restored  to  his  place  but  to  the  chief  baker  he  could 
only  say  that  within  three  days  he  should  die.  The 
chief  butler  was  elated.  Within  three  days  he  was 


36  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

restored  to  his  place.  Before  he  went  out  Joseph 
intreated  him  to  remember  him  to  Pharaoh  and  to 
bring  him  out  of  his  prison  house,  but  the  chief 
butler  forgot  him  utterly.  It  is  not  uncommon  for 
people  to  forget  favours.  This  narrative  runs  true 
to  life. 

Pharaoh  had  a  dream  of  seven  lean  kine  and  seven 
fat  kine  that  came  up  out  of  the  river  Nile,  and  the 
lean  kine  devoured  the  fat  kine;  and  of  seven  lean 
ears  and  seven  rank  and  full  ears.  No  one  could  be 
found  who  could  interpret  the  dream  until  the  chief 
butler  remembered  how  Joseph  had  interpreted  his 
dream  and  his  promise  to  help  him  out  of  prison. 
We  all  know  how  Joseph  interpreted  the  dream  to 
Pharaoh  as  it  was  that  which  God  was  about  to  bring 
to  pass  in  Egypt — seven  plentiful  to  be  followed  by 
seven  lean  or  famine  years. 

Making  Good  as  Chief  Ruler  of  Egypt  (Genesis 
41:37-57). — Now  at  last  the  golden  opportunity, 
for  Joseph,  had  come.  He  pointed  out  the  desirabil¬ 
ity  of  some  man  being  chosen  who  would  gather 
sufficient  grain  to  tide  over  the  lean  years.  Pharaoh 
chose  him  as  that  man.  Look  back  and  see  that 
Joseph  has  been  prepared  and  willing  to  be  prepared 
for  this  great  trust.  He  is  a  graduate,  with  honours, 
of  Faith  in  God  and  the  University  of  Hard  Knocks. 
Did  Joseph  foresee  something  of  this  sort  and  pre¬ 
pared  himself  for  it?  He  was  a  man  of  vision  and 
an  interpreter  of  visions.  Every  inventor  has  seen 
his  invention,  in  vision,  before  he  has  seen  it  in 
reality.  Edison  saw  his  lamp,  Wright  his  flying 
machine,  Marconi  heard  his  wireless  messages  before 


37 


they  became  realities.  Why  is  it  not  possible  for  a 
man  like  Joseph,  with  infinite  faith  in  God,  to  believe 
that  God  is  preparing  him  for  some  great  trust — 
some  great  place — when,  after  enduring  hard  trials, 
he  graduates  at  the  head  of  his  class? 

Many  men,  who  in  politics  and  in  business  have 
attained  to  high  places,  have  told  afterwards  that 
when  they  were  boys  they  determined  to  have  these 
places.  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  and  Joseph  be¬ 
lieved  in  God’s  promises  unto  the  uttermost.  The 
early  dreams  of  Joseph  are  indicative  of  what  he 
purposed  to  do  and  be. 

There  are  four  things  which  must  be  observed 
in  making  good  in  any  work  or  profession.  First — 
There  must  be  the  determination,  the  will,  to  do 
what  one  purposes  to  do.  Second — Staying  power 
— to  remain  in  one’s  chosen  pursuit,  no  matter  what 
happens.  Third — Reserve  power;  the  accumulation 
of  a  reserve  for  unexpected  emergencies.  Fourth — 
Vision,  the  ability  to  see  a  thing,  as  accomplished, 
before  it  is  done.  These  qualities  coupled  with  his 
firm  faith  in  God’s  ability  to  take  care  of  him  made 
Joseph  what  he  was. 

Joseph’s  Receptions  of  His  Brethren  and  His  Fa¬ 
ther  (Genesis  42 : 1  to  50 :  26)  constitute  a  separate 
story.  They  would  take  a  study  in  themselves.  We 
have  only  space  to  point  out  the  fact  that  Joseph’s 
rise  to  high  position  had  not  spoiled  him.  He  was 
not  vindictive  against  his  brethren  who  had  sold  him 
into  slavery.  He  saw  everything  that  had  happened, 
as  it  had  turned  out  to  the  advantage  of  his  people 
and  himself. 


38  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

Eight  Strong  Points  in  the  Character  of  Joseph, 

First — Supreme  faith  in  God;  his  confidence  never 
wavered.  Second— Foresight ;  seeing  things  before 
they  came  to  pass.  Third — Evenness  of  temper;  we 
never  see  him  out  of  sorts.  Fourth — Making  the 
best  of  bad  situations;  in  the  pit  and  in  the  prison 
he  is  the  same  as  in  the  chief  rulership.  Fifth — 
Keenness  of  mind.  He  had  all  the  shrewdness  of 
his  father,  Jacob,  but  it  was  turned  toward  helping 
others  and  not  used  for  his  own  advantage.  Sixth 
— Ability  to  cope  with  any  and  every  situation. 
Seventh — Stability  of  heart  and  mind.  Eighth — 
Dependability — Potiphar,  the  keeper  of  the  prison, 
and  Pharaoh  placed  all  their  interests,  successively,  in 
his  hands,  and  they  were  taken  care  of  to  their  satis¬ 
faction. 

Questions. — What  can  be  said  of  the  life  of 
Joseph;  the  way  in  which  he  was  connected  with 
the  chosen  people  coming  down  into  Egypt?  How 
did  Jacob  show  his  favour  to  this  shepherd  boy? 
What  can  be  said  of  Joseph  as  “  The  Dreamer  ”  ? 
What  is  there  to  be  said  of  Joseph  being  sold  into 
Egypt?  Describe  his  first  experiences  in  Egypt. 
What  can  be  said  of  him  as  “  The  Interpreter  of 
Dreams  ”  ?  How  did  he  make  good  as  chief  ruler 
of  Egypt?  What  four  things  must  be  observed  in 
making  good?  What  can  be  said  of  Joseph’s  re¬ 
ception  of  his  father  and  his  brethren?  Give  the 
eight  strong  points  in  the  character  of  Joseph. 


V 


MOSES 

LEADER  AND  LAWGIVER  OF  A  NATION 

The  Need  of  Moses. — We  turn  from  Genesis,  at 
once,  to  Exodus  and  are  apt  to  forget  that  between 
the  two  books  there  is  a  long  space  of  time. 

After  the  death  of  Joseph  there  arose  a  Pharaoh 
who  became  alarmed  at  the  rapid  increase  in  num¬ 
bers  and  wealth  of  the  Israelites.  What  Joseph  had 
done  in  saving  the  nation,  during  seven  years  of 
famine,  was  utterly  forgotten.  This  Pharaoh  de¬ 
termined  to  break  the  spirit  and  to  check  the  growth 
of  this  people.  He  burdened  them  with  difficult 
tasks,  gave  orders  to  kill  off  all  the  boy  babies,  and 
reduced  them  to  abject  slavery.  To  a  free  people 
this  subjection  seemed  very  hard;  and  when  they 
remembered  the  promises  given  to  Abraham,  Isaac 
and  Jacob  and  the  favour  that  was  theirs  under 
Joseph  it  was  by  no  means  easy  for  them  to  bear 
the  bitterness  of  their  lot.  Year  after  year  passed 
and  conditions  grew  steadily  worse. 

The  Advent  of  Moses. — Even  after  the  birth  of 
Moses  it  is  eighty  years  before  he  is  called  to  deliver 
this  people  from  a  hard  and  bitter  bondage.  But 
in  his  birth  events  of  tremendous  importance,  not 
only  to  the  Israelites  but  to  the  world,  are  in  prepa¬ 
ration. 

Moses  stands  out  as  one  of  the  greatest  figures 

39 


40  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

in  the  history  of  mankind.  He  was  born  in  slavery; 
a  slave  mother  concealed  his  birth  that  he  might  not 
suffer  death  under  the  decree  of  Pharaoh  that  all 
Israelitish  boy  babies  should  be  put  to  death. 

The  Great  Task  given  to  Moses  was  to  take  a 
people  which  had  been  in  Egyptian  slavery — the 
worst  that  the  world  has  ever  known — with  its  hard 
work  without  pay  and  its  cruel  whippings — and  make 
it  into  a  great  nation  with  the  purest  moral  and 
spiritual  ideals  that  the  world  has  ever  known. 

He  was  called  to  a  constructive  work  of  the 
highest  order.  He  was  to  be,  so  to  speak,  the  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Sinaitic  University  with  its  various  de¬ 
partments  ably  manned  not  with  a  four,  but  a  forty 
years'  course  of  study. 

The  task  was  threefold.  First,  Religious,  to 
make  a  church  with  the  underlying  thought  of  one 
God,  Father  and  Ruler  of  all.  Second,  Political,  to 
make  a  great  state  or  nation  living  under  wise  laws 
with  high  spiritual  conceptions.  A  people  which 
could  survive  internal  dissensions  and  the  rude  buf- 
fetings  of  other  nations.  Third,  Social,  to  keep  the 
individual  and  the  family  pure  and  clean  and  in 
right  relations.  The  principles  set  forth  have  never 
been  abrogated. 

With  him  the  primitive  and  patriarchal  period 
closes  and  we  have  the  birth  of  a  nation. 

The  Career  of  Moses  is  divided  into  three  periods 
of  forty  years  each. 

The  First  Forty  Years  in  the  Court  of  Pharaoh. 

— It  is  summed  up  in  just  fifteen  verses  of  the  second 
chapter  of  Exodus.  Most  historians  would  have 


Moses 


41 


made  much  of  this  period.  Not  so  this  recorder. 
He  has  much  more  important  things  on  hand.  We 
wish  we  knew  more  about  Moses’  mother  who  saved 
the  life  of  her  child  and  carefully  thought  out  a  way 
to  preserve  him  from  death  and  provide  for  his  fu¬ 
ture.  She  was  a  real  genius  in  planning. 

As  the  adopted  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter, 
Moses  moved  in  the  inner  circle  of  the  court  life. 
There  were  four  great  temple  universities — Memphis, 
Sais,  Thebes  and  On.  They  were  famous  for  their 
scholarship.  It  is  probable  that  Moses  was  educated 
at  the  University  of  On,  which  is  about  five  miles 
northeast  of  modern  Cairo. 

The  allurements  of  court  life,  the  learning,  and 
the  gorgeous  ritual  of  worship  in  the  magnificent 
temples  of  the  Egyptians  do  not  seem  to  have  had 
any  appeal  for  this  young  man. 

We  find  all  his  sympathies  and  all  his  interest 
are  for  the  despised  race  from  which  he  came.  Go¬ 
ing  out  one  day,  as  he  doubtless  had  done  very 
often,  to  visit  his  people,  he  sees  an  Egyptian  beat¬ 
ing  a  Hebrew.  It  is  too  much  for  him.  Doubtless 
hitting  harder  than  he  intends  he  lays  low  the  cruel 
taskmaster.  He  thinks  no  one  has  seen  him,  but  he 
learns  very  quickly  that  he  is  mistaken.  For  trying 
to  help  a  fellow  countryman,  in  distress,  he  is  com¬ 
pelled  to  flee  for  his  life. 

The  Second  Forty  Years  on  the  Backside  of  the 
Desert. — What  a  change!  From  the  active  and 
gay  life  of  the  court  of  the  mightiest  empire  of  its 
times  to  the  silence  and  monotony  of  the  desert! 
Now  he,  who  was  so  honoured  and  looked  up  to, 


42  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

whose  slightest  expressed  wish  was  attended  to  by 
fawning  servants,  is  reduced  to  tending  sheep.  But 
if  Moses  ever  regretted  the  change  he  left  no  record 
of  his  regret.  There  come  times,  in  every  one's  life, 
when  there  is  relegation  to  the  backside  of  the  desert 
but  it  is  not  always  taken  as  well  as  Moses  took  it. 

Moses  in  this  period  gained  a  knowledge  of  the 
desert  which  was  of  great  use  to  him  when  he,  after¬ 
wards,  led  the  host  of  Israelites  in  their  wanderings. 
This  period  is  summed  up  in  one  short  chapter — 
Exodus  3. 

This  period  is  brought  to  a  close  by  the  call,  by 
God,  out  of  the  burning  bush,  to  Moses  to  the  work 
which  marks  the  beginning  of  a  great  epoch  in  the 
history  of  the  world. 

The  Third  Forty  Years  as  Leader  and  Lawgiver 
of  a  Nation. — A  period  crowded  with  important 
events  so  that  four  books — Exodus,  Leviticus,  Num¬ 
bers  and  Deuteronomy — making  barest  mention  of 
them  are  not  sufficient  to  tell  the  whole  story. 

After  the  call  of  Moses  he  is,  at  once,  sent  to 
Pharaoh  to  demand  the  release  of  the  children  of 
Israel.  Think  of  the  surprise  and  bewilderment  of 
Pharaoh!  A  fugitive,  who  has  been  hunted  by  his 
order,  coming  before  him  and  demanding  that  he 
release  a  despised  body  of  slaves !  Moses  does  not 
come,  as  a  suppliant,  but  as  the  ambassador  of  a 
higher  power  demanding  and  insisting  that  Pharaoh 
yield.  Pharaoh  is  obliged  to  comply.  Then  follows 
the  story  of  the  making  of  a  nation  in  the  forty  years 
of  desert  schooling. 

The  Key-note  of  the  Three  Periods  is  Divine 


Moses 


43 


Leadership. — God  ruling  in  and  over  the  affairs  of 
men.  It  is  God  who  calls  Moses  to  his  task.  It  is 
God  who  sends  Moses  to  Pharaoh  with  the  demand 
that  he  let  the  Children  of  Israel  go.  It  is  God  who 
directs  the  exodus  out  of  Egypt.  It  is  God  for  whom 
the  wilderness  tabernacle  is  erected.  It  is  God  who 
gives  the  ten  commandments.  He  is  fulfilling  His 
promises  to  make  of  this  people  a  great  nation — - 
through'whom  all  the  world  shall  be  blessed  and 
come  to  better  things. 

The  Record  of  What  was  Done  in  the  Third 
Period  is  set  forth  in  the  books  of  Exodus,  Levit¬ 
icus,  Numbers  and  Deuteronomy. 

Exodus. — This  book  is  a  great  turning  point  in 
Old  Testament  history.  It  marks  “  The  first  stage 
of  the  fulfillment  of  the  promises  made  by  God  to 
the  patriarchs  with  reference  to  the  place  and  growth 
of  the  Israelites.” 

It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  God  is  here  re¬ 
vealed  as  the  God  of  the  whole  world  and  supreme 
over  nature.  He  commands  Pharaoh  and  the  forces 
of  the  earth.  A  special  nation  is  called,  constituted 
and  consecrated  for  a  world-wide  mission. 

Leviticus. — The  contents  are  legislative.  The 
laws  set  forth  are  Moral,  Religious,  Civil,  Ceremonial 
and  Sanitary.  The  ten  commandments  are  given  to 
Moses.  The  great  value  of  these  laws  is  fully  rec¬ 
ognized  to-day.  The  design  of  these  laws  is  to  stim¬ 
ulate  the  spiritual  life  and  make  a  Holy  Nation. 

Numbers. — The  account  of  the  training  of  the 
nation.  We  are  here  told  of  what  took  place  from 
the  second  year  of  the  exodus  to  the  arrival  at  the 


44 


Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

border  of  the  Promised  Land— thirty-eight  years. 
The  name  is  from  the  double  numbering  of  the  peo¬ 
ple — first  at  Sinai,  chapter  1,  and  then  at  Moab, 
chapter  26. 

Deuteronomy.— Review  of  the  law  in  sight  of 
the  Promised  Land.  Moses  gives  his  parting  in¬ 
structions  in  three  addresses.  First — Remembrance 
of  God’s  care.  Second— Exposition  of  the  law. 
Third — Renewal  of  the  covenant.  Some  of  the  laws 
given  in  Leviticus  are  changed  to  suit  the  new  mode 
of  living  from  tent  life  to  the  settled  life  of  villages 
and  cities.  A  new  generation  has  grown  up,  a  new 
country  is  to  be  settled  and  new  duties  are  before 
the  people. 

Questions.-— What  was  the  need  of  Moses? 
What  can  be  said  of  the  advent  of  Moses?  How 
long  after  his  birth  did  the  deliverance  take  place? 
What  was  the  task  of  Moses;  its  threefold  char¬ 
acter?  Into  what  periods  is  Moses’  career  divided? 
Give  an  account  of  the  first,  the  second  and  the 
third.  What  is  the  key-note  of  the  three?  What  is 
the  record — teaching-— of  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Num¬ 
bers  and  Deuteronomy? 


VI 


JOSHUA 

THE  COURAGEOUS  MAN  WITH  A  HARD  TASK 

Wanted — A  New  Leader! — This  sign  was  out. 
Moses,  the  statesman,  was  dead.  Great  was  the 
mourning ! 

When  a  man  has  been  the  successful  head  of  a 
nation  for  forty  years  and  dies  in  the  full  vigour  of 
his  powers,  it  is  not  easy  to  fill  his  place — Deuteron¬ 
omy  34 :  7,  8. 

Ability  to  lead ,  in  a  great  movement,  is  a  rare 
quality.  A  man  may  have  wealth,  position,  favour¬ 
ing  circumstances,  but  these  will  all  go  for  naught 
without  this  quality;  with  this  quality  he  can  create 
wealth,  position  and  favouring  circumstances  and 
make  them  serve  his  purpose.  Without  good  leader¬ 
ship  a  nation  rapidly  degenerates.  Hence  the  anx¬ 
iety,  after  the  death  of  Moses,  in  regard  to  the  new 
leader  must  have  been  intense.  The  position  of  the 
tribes  was  very  critical.  They  could  not  go  back. 
They  were  facing  alert,  dangerous,  and  well-armed 
enemies. 

The  Choice  of  Joshua  (Joshua  Ch.  1). — As  we 
read  the  narrative  we  can  realize  the  relief  in  the 
strain  when  it  was  announced  that  Joshua  had  been 
called  to  take  the  place  of  Moses.  “As  Moses  was 
a  statesman,  Joshua  was  a  soldier” — a  general  of 
eminent  ability.  His  predominant  qualities  were 

45 


46  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

strength,  courage,  far-sightedness,  faith  in  his  God 
and  in  His  cause. 

The  call  came  from  God .  How?  We  cannot 
say.  We  follow  the  text.  But  it  is  true  to-day,  as 
it  ever  has  been,  that  many  a  man,  engaged  in  a  large 
and  important  enterprise,  has  felt  this  direct  call  to 
his  work.  With  the  call  to  Joshua  there  came  the 
assurance — 1:5 — that  God  would  be  back  of  him; 
and  the  exhortation — three  times  repeated — to  be 
strong  and  of  good  courage — 1 :  6,  7,  9. 

Personal  Equipment. — We  always  like  to  know 
something  about  men  who  have  done  big  things — 
stepping  out  of  their  nationality- — in  the  history  of 
the  world.  Joshua  was  a  descendent  of  Joseph  of 
the  tribe  of  Ephraim — 1  Chronicles  7 :  20-27.  He 
was  born  a  slave,  in  the  brick  fields  of  Egypt,  and 
he  knew  the  bitterness  of  slavery.  He  was  with 
Moses  in  the  forty  years’  wandering  in  the  desert. 
He  was  selected  as  the  commander  to  defeat  Amalek 
when  he  fought  against  Israel,  at  Rephidim — Exodus 
17 : 8-13.  He  was  also  chosen  to  go  with  Moses 
when  he  went  up  “into  the  mount  of  God”  to  re¬ 
ceive  the  tables  of  stone  on  which  were  written  the 
commandments— -Exodus  24 : 12,  13.  It  was  the 
logical  and  natural  thing  that  the  new  leadership 
should  come  to  him.  He  was  well  prepared  to  re¬ 
spond  to  the  call. 

The  Situation.™ Let  us  visualize  it,  as  Joshua 
saw  it. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  Jordan,  to  the  north  of 
the  Dead  Sea,  the  host  of  Israel  is  encamped.  It  is 
orderly.  It  is  well  disciplined.  The  encampment  is 


Joshua 


47 


by  tribes.  The  streets  are  well  spaced.  On  the 
parade  grounds — of  which  there  are  a  number — there 
is  constant  drilling  of  the  soldiers.  Let  us  disabuse 
our  minds  of  the  fancy  that  there  was  no  effort  re¬ 
quired  of  the  Israelites  when  difficult  things  had  to 
be  done  and  that  all  they  had  to  do  was  to  call  on 
the  Lord  and  a  miracle  would  be  performed.  It  is 
not  so  set  down  in  the  narrative.  They  had  to  work 
hard.  It  was  well  known  that  it  would  be  no  easy 
task  to  subdue  the  Canaanites. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  Jordan  were  the 
Canaanites  dwelling  in  many  scores  of  walled  cities 
and  with  a  multitude  of  fierce  fighters. 

The  Work  to  Be  Done  was  to  dispossess  the 
Canaanites  and  to  possess  the  land.  Could  it  be 
done?  That  was  the  question  that  troubled  every¬ 
body  from  Joshua  down  to  the  smallest  children  who 
could  understand  what  was  up. 

First — To  dispossess  the  Canaanites.  Why? 
For  the  same  reason  that  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  were 
destroyed.  Read  Genesis  18 :  20-19 :  25.  This  dis¬ 
possession  is  always  represented  in  the  Bible  as  a 
punishment  for  wickedness.  Nineveh,  Babylon  and 
Jerusalem  also  went  down  for  their  sins.  The 
Canaanites  worshipped  every  evil  thing.  In  one  word 
it  was  a  religious  cult  exalting  immorality.  Recent 
excavations  and  researches  show  that  “  No  other  na¬ 
tion  has  rivaled  them  in  the  mixture  of  blood  and 
debauchery  with  which  they  sought  to  honour  the 
Deity.”  We  have  no  sympathy  with  the  disorderly 
house  and  the  gambling  hell  when  raided  by  the 
police — why  should  we  express  it  for  the  Canaanites 


48  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

who  were  far  worse?  Joshua  was  taking  no  chances 
when  he  prepared  his  campaign.  He  knew  that  the 
worse  the  evil  the  harder  it  would  fight.  It  is  a 
mistake  too  often  made  that  all  you  have  to  do  is 
expose  evil  and  the  cure  is  effected.  Not  so — it 
hits  back  and  uses  every  mean  weapon  that  it  can 
get  hold  of.  The  Canaanites  were  skilled  warriors. 
They  had  the  arts  of  civilization,  as  then  known. 
They  inhabited  walled  towns  and  cities.  They  were 
strategists  and  fought  by  fair  means  and  by  foul. 

Second — To  possess  the  land .  To  do  this  Joshua 
well  knew  that  he  would  have  to  be  wise  in  peace  as 
well  as  in  war.  To  conserve  the  fruits  of  victory  is 
often  more  difficult  than  to  win  them. 

The  War  Plan,  of  Joshua,  displayed  the  ability 
of  a  great  general.  There  were  three  military  cam¬ 
paigns. 

First — “  The  Central  ”  against  Jericho  and  Ai — 
chapter  6.  This  was  a  blow  right  in  the  center  of 
Canaan.  It  divided  the  forces  of  the  enemy  into 
two  camps — “  the  Southern  ”  and  “  the  Northern.” 
This  made  it  more  easy  to  deal  with  the  situation. 

Second — “The  Southern ”  against  the  combined 
kings  of  the  South — chapter  10. 

Third — “The  Northern ”  against  the  combined 
kings  of  the  North — chapter  11. 

In  chapter  12  we  have  an  account  of  the  kings 
which  the  children  of  Israel  smote  and  possessed 
their  lands. 

The  Peace  Plan. — Note  that  the  tribes  were  not 
left  to  select  their  own  lands,  as  it  might  happen, 
where  they  should  settle,  but  everything  was  care- 


Joshua 


49 


fully  planned  out.  The  great  ability  of  Joshua  never 
shone  out  more  clearly  than  it  does  here.  In  chap¬ 
ters  13  to  22  we  have  the  assignment  of  lands  to  the 
twelve  tribes.  Nine  and  a  half  tribes  have  their  ap¬ 
portionment  on  the  west  side  of  Jordan  and  two  and 
a  half  tribes  on  the  east  side.  The  Tabernacle  of 
God  is  set  up  at  Shiloh— -chapter  18 : 1.  The  rest  of 
the  eighteenth  chapter  up  to  and  including  the 
twenty-second,  has  to  do  with  further  tribal  appor¬ 
tionment  and  the  appointing  of  six  cities  of  refuge 
and  forty-eight  cities  given  to  the  Levites.  Every¬ 
thing  is  done  in  an  orderly  and  systematic  way. 

The  Real  Significance  of  Joshua’s  Work  was  that 
he  worked  under  the  direction  of  God — this  is  al¬ 
ways  made  prominent.  First,  for  the  purification  of 
the  land  from  the  awful  parody  of  its  religion  in  the 
exaltation  of  immorality.  Second,  the  exaltation  of 
the  worship  of  the  one  true  God.  Third,  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

Joshua’s  Farewell  Address. — Nothing  could  be 
finer.  Read  chapters  23  and  24.  Near  the  close  of 
his  life  he  calls  the  tribes  together  and  gives  them 
his  parting  words.  He  reviews  his  twenty-five  years 
with  them  as  their  leader.  He  recalls  to  their  minds 
what  has  been  accomplished.  He  reminds  them  of 
God’s  great  goodness  and  care  and  of  how  much  He 
has  done  for  them.  He  earnestly  warns  against 
lapses  into  idolatry.  He  charges  them  to  be  faithful 
to  their  God.  He  renews  the  covenant  with  God. 

Characteristics  of  Joshua. — First — perfect  faith 
in  God.  Second — masterly  courage.  Third — great¬ 
ness  of  leadership  both  in  war  and  in  peace.  Fourth 


50  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

— lasting  enthusiasm.  Fifth — unswerving  fidelity 
in  the  discharge  of  all  his  duties. 

Questions. — Why  was  a  new  leader  wanted? 
What  can  be  said  about  the  choice  of  Joshua?  What 
was  his  personal  equipment?  What  can  be  said  of 
the  situation,  as  Joshua  saw  it,  with  which  he  had 
to  deal?  What  was  the  work  to  be  done?  What 
was  the  war  plan?  What  the  peace  plan?  What 
was  the  real  significance  of  Joshua’s  work?  Give 
the  points  in  Joshua’s  farewell  address.  What  were 
the  five  characteristics  of  Joshua? 


VII 


SAUL 

THE  MAN  WHO  ABUSED  HIS  OPPORTUNITIES 

The  Opportunities  of  Saul  (1  Samuel  8:19  to 
31:13). — No  man  ever  had  so  many  chances  to 
make  a  success  of  life  thrust  upon  him  and  no  man 
ever  so  missed  them.  No,  not  missed  them;  let  us 
rather  say  that  he  went  out  of  his  way  to  abuse 
them.  How  did  he  do  it?  His  sun  rose,  in  splen¬ 
dour,  with  every  prospect  of  a  glorious  day.  It  set 
in  darkness  with  a  tempest  raging.  Such  a  career 
is  well  worth  the  closest  study  in  order  that  we  may 
realize  the  dangers  to  be  avoided.  It  is  not  the  op¬ 
portunities,  big  or  little,  that  count ;  it  is  the  use  that 
is  made  of  them. 

The  Backward  Look  to  the  transition  period,  be¬ 
tween  Joshua,  who  succeeded  Moses  and  conquered 
Canaan,  and  Saul,  the  first  king  of  Israel,  is  well 
worth  while.  The  story  is  told,  from  the  first  chap¬ 
ter  of  Judges,  up  to  and  including  the  eighth  chapter 
of  1  Samuel.  It  is  a  stirring  history,  of  hundreds 
of  years,  compressed  in  thirty-three  short  Bible  chap¬ 
ters. 

The  key-note  is  found  in  Judges  2:16-19. 
Things  do  not  run  smoothly.  Israel  falls  into  sin; 
becomes  a  prey  to  her  enemies ;  repents  and  calls  on 
God;  God  hears  and  raises  up  a  leader  (“Judge,” 

5i 


52  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

so  called)  who  delivers  the  nation;  then  the  nation 
falls  into  sin  again  and  the  round  is  repeated  about 
thirteen  times.  No  great  man  arises  like  Moses  or 
Joshua.  This  period  is  very  much  like  the  “  Middle 
Ages  of  Europe.”  While  the  ark  seems  to  remain 
at  Shiloh  there  is  no  central  national  government, 
no  political  unity,  and  the  supremacy  passes  from 
tribe  to  tribe.  The  original  inhabitants  of  the  land 
are  hostile  and  bitter. 

The  problem  of  the  Israelites  was  to  retain  their 
faith  in  God  and  to  keep  hold  of  the  land.  The 
temptation  was  constant  to  relapse  into  the  heathen¬ 
ish  ways  of  the  Canaanites.  The  beautiful  story  of 
the  book  of  Ruth  shows,  however,  that  there  were 
some  very  good  people  even  in  these  dark  days. 

The  Forward  Look. — When  things  are  very  bad 
in  a  people’s  affairs  one  of  two  things  happens :  First 
— the  end  is  the  extinction  of  that  race  or.  Second 
— a  party  arises  which  demands  a  radical  change  for 
the  better.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  the  Israelites  that  a 
radical  change  for  the  better  was  demanded.  With 
Samuel,  the  last  of  the  judges  and  the  first  of  the 
prophets,  it  was  thought  that  a  new  era  had  dawned. 
He,  at  first,  did  great  things  in  bringing  order  out 
of  chaos  and  in  the  heading  of  a  new  and  better 
administration  of  affairs.  But  he  was  growing  old. 
He  made  his  sons  judges.  This  was  the  finishing 
touch  for  they  were  bad  through  and  through.  They 
took  bribes  and  sold  judgments — 1  Samuel  8 : 1-22. 
Then  the  chief  men  came  to  Samuel  and  demanded 
a  new  administration.  They  could  see  no  better  way 
than  to  have  a  new  move.  Samuel’s  sons  were  im- 


Saul 


53 


possible.  They  asked  for  a  king  like  the  nations 
round  about  them.  Samuel  tried  to  dissuade  them 
but  they  would  not  listen  to  him.  Samuel  took  the 
matter  to  the  Lord  and  he  was  told  to  yield  to  the 
people's  demand. 

In  this  Backward  and  Forward  Look  we  see  the 

straits  to  which  the  people  were  put  and  the  reason 
for  the  desire  for  a  strong  hand  to  guide  and  control 
affairs.  But  in  this  demand  the  people  set  aside 
God’s  immediate  government  and  Samuel.  Yet  this 
seemed,  at  this  time,  with  Samuel’s  evil  sons  coming 
into  power,  the  thing  to  do — the  appointment  of  a 
king. 

The  Splendid  Advent  of  Saul,  the  first  king  of 
Israel.  No  reign  of  any  king  was  ever  begun  under 
fairer  prospects — 1  Samuel  8 : 18-22.  He  was 
chosen  by  Samuel  under  the  direct  command  of  God. 
The  people  were  for  him  to  a  man — and  not  simply 
the  leaders.  When  Samuel  presented  him  to  the 
people  there  was  great  rejoicing.  “  And  Samuel  said 
to  all  the  people,  See  ye  him  whom  the  Lord  hath 
chosen,  that  there  is  none  like  him  among  all  the 
people?  And  all  the  people  shouted,  and  said,  God 
save  the  king  ” — 1  Samuel  10 :  24. 

Personally ,  he  was  good  to  look  upon.  He  was 
taller,  by  a  head,  than  most  men — 1  Samuel  9:1,  2. 
He  was  modest — 9 :  21 — in  that  when  it  was  shown 
him  that  he  was  to  be  king  he  declared  he  was  not 
worthy.  When  he  was  to  be  publicly  chosen  he 
hid  himself  and  was  not  found — 10 :  20,  23.  For  the 
story  read  9 : 1  to  10 :  26. 

The  Pinnacle  of  Success. — Without  any  effort, 


54  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

on  his  part,  Saul  was  elevated  to  the  headship  of  a 
people  destined  to  outlast  all  the  nations  of  antiquity. 
He  seems,  at  first,  to  have  taken  his  new  duties  and 
responsibilities  with  great  seriousness  and  earnest¬ 
ness.  From  all  that  we  can  gather  he  soon  made  the 
name  of  Israel,  by  his  wise  administration,  feared 
and  respected.  He  had  statesman-like  qualities  and 
was  an  eminent  military  leader.  He  conducted  three 
brilliant  military  campaigns  against  the  enemies  of 
Israel.  First — against  the  Amorites,  on  the  east  side 
of  Jordan — chapter  11.  Second — against  the  Philis¬ 
tines,  on  the  west — 14 : 1-31.  Third — against  the 
Amalekites,  on  the  south — 15 : 1-7.  On  every  side 
he  fought  against  and  vexed  the  enemies  of  Israel — 
14 : 47. 

The  Decline  and  Downfall  of  Saul. — Everything 
seemed  to  point  to  a  long  and  successful  reign;  a 
renewal  of  the  glory  that  was  Israel’s  during  the 
leadership  of  Joshua  and  an  advance  to  even  greater 
things.  We  look — and  everything  is  going  up.  We 
look  again — and  everything  is  on  the  down-grade. 
“  It  is  the  old  familiar  story  of  pride,  egotism  and 
the  abuse  of  power  leading  to  moral  degradation 
and  ruin.”  Let  us  consider  the  points  on  the  down¬ 
ward  road  traveled  by  Saul. 

First — he  forgot  that  he  had  been  chosen  to  do  a 
certain  piece  of  good  work  in  helping  Israel  up  out 
of  a  hard  situation.  The  people  had  asked  for  him; 
the  Lord  had  acceded  to  their  request — 8:4-22. 
Again  and  again  he  makes  it  manifest  that  he  pro¬ 
poses  to  forget  both  his  God  and  his  people  and  to 
reign  as  it  seems  best  to  himself — willfully  and  self- 


Saul 


55 


ishly — 15 : 19-22.  The  story  of  how  this  man  ruined 
himself  and  came  near  wrecking  his  country  is  told 
in  seventeen  chapters  of  1  Samuel,  15  to  31. 

Second — he  allowed  envy  and  jealousy  to  get  the 
better  of  him  and  stifled  every  generous  and  noble 
impulse.  Take  the  case  of  David  who  slew  the  giant 
Goliath — chapter  17 — Saul,  instead  of  rejoicing  over 
this  fact,  is  envious  of  David  and  tries  to  kill  him— 
18 :  6-11.  He  orders  him  killed — 19  : 1. 

Third — he  lost  all  sense  of  loyalty  and  sought  to 
deal  treacherously  with  David.  He  laid  a  trap  for 
him  whereby  he  hoped  that  he  would  be  killed,  indeed 
expected  he  would  be,  in  exacting  as  a  dowry  for 
his  daughter’s  hand  a  hundred  enemies  slain — 
18 : 20-30. 

Fourth — from  the  nineteenth  to  the  thirtieth 
chapters,  inclusive,  we  have  the  account  of  how  Saul 
lays  aside  all  idea  of  reigning  except  by  his  own 
erratic  will.  He  has  forsaken  God  and  while  he 
seeks  to  get  into  touch  with  Him  now  and  then  it  is 
only  that  he  may  foster  some  selfish  scheme  of  his 
not  with  any  thought  of  serving  or  obeying  Him.  He 
hunts  David  as  a  wild  beast  is  hunted. 

Fifth — he  becomes  the  subject  of  attacks  of  deep 
melancholy  In  one  of  his  fits  of  depression  he  visits 
the  Witch  of  Endor.  It  is  here  shown  to  what  depths 
this  once  noble  man  has  fallen. 

The  Tragic  Death  (Ch.  31). — A  life  so  misspent 
can  have  but  one  ending  and  it  must  be  tragic.  But 
long  before  the  physical  death  there  was  the  going 
out  of  the  man  all  that  was  noble  and  good.  Before 
Saul  took  his  own  physical  life  he  had  already  taken 


56  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

his  moral  life.  The  case  of  Saul  is  not  isolated — 
it  is  occurring,  here  and  there,  every  day. 

Questions. — What  can  be  said  of  the  oppor¬ 
tunities  of  Saul  ?  The  backward ;  the  forward  look  ? 
Give  an  account  of  the  splendid  advent  of  Saul. 
What  can  be  said  of  the  pinnacle  of  his  success? 
Give  the  five  points  in  his  decline  and  fall.  What 
can  be  said  of  his  tragic  death? 


VIII 


DAVID 

THE  SEEF-CONQUEROR  WHO  BECAME  KING 

David,  the  Second  King  of  Israel,  at  once  suc¬ 
ceeded  Saul.  There  is  no  interval  of  time.  At  first 
he  was  king  of  Judah  for  about  seven  years.  Then 
for  the  remainder  of  the  forty  years  of  his  reign 
he  was  king  of  the  united  kingdom  of  Judah  and 
Israel.  The  complete  story  is  told  from  1  Samuel 
16 : 1,  through  2  Samuel,  to  1  Kings  2 : 11.  It  has 
been  said  of  him — “  In  his  own  person  he  represents 
the  athlete,  the  shepherd,  the  poet,  the  musician,  the 
mystic,  the  man  of  war,  the  father,  the  friend  and 
the  statesman.” 

The  Self-Conqueror. — Saul  had  the  high  office  of 
“  King  of  All  Israel  ”  handed  to  him,  so  to  speak, 
on  a  silver  platter.  He  served  no  apprenticeship. 
He  underwent  no  hardships.  David,  “  The  Self- 
Conqueror,”  on  the  other  hand  had  some  very  bitter 
and  trying  experiences  before  he  attained  his  high 
place.  Self-Control  is  one  of  David’s  chief  char¬ 
acteristics.  This  is  one  of  the  greatest  virtues  that 
any  man  can  have  and  exercise.  It  is  a  blessing  to 
the  man  who  has  it  and  to  those  with  whom  he  comes 
in  contact.  Without  it  a  man  is  a  menace  to  society. 
Many  an  able  man,  splendidly  equipped  in  all  other 

57 


58  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

respects,  has  made  a  disastrous  failure  of  his  life 
and  mission  because  he  lacked  this  virtue. 

It  is  interesting  to  read  the  story  of  David’s  life 
and  exploits,  with  this  matter  of  “  Self-Control  ”  in 
mind,  and  to  mark  how  he  exercised  it  in  face  of 
envy,  hatred,  revenge,  degradation  from  high  to  low 
places  and  how  he  stood  the  hard  tests,  in  all  but  one 
instance  and  of  that  he  repented  bitterly.  He  passed 
through  a  number  of  hard  schools.  Let  us  consider 
them: 

The  School  of  the  Open  Fields  (1  Samuel 
16:11-13  and  16-23;  17:34-37). — David  was  a 
keeper  of  sheep,  as  a  young  man.  It  was  a  good 
easy  place.  The  tendency,  in  such  a  place,  is  to  let 
down  and  let  things  drift.  Notice  that  David  did 
nothing  of  the  sort.  He  overcame  the  tendency  to 
laziness.  He  became  such  a  skillful  musician  that 
his  fame  reached  even  to  the  king  and  he  was  called 
to  play  on  a  harp  at  court.  On  the  opposite  side 
he  became  a  skilled  marksman,  with  the  sling,  and  an 
athlete — so  that  it  was  an  easy  thing  for  him  to 
throw  a  stone,  just  one,  with  such  accuracy  that  it 
found  its  mark  on  the  face  of  the  giant  Goliath  and 
then  when  he  was  stunned  he  jumped  in  and  finished 
the  job—l  Samuel,  chapter  17.  How  did  he  do  this 
so  easily  and  without  fear?  Why?  He  had  been 
educated  in  “  the  School  of  the  Lion  and  the  Bear  ” 
— 1  Samuel  17 :  34-37.  He  had  confidence  because 
he  had  exercised  self-control  over  the  natural  ten¬ 
dency  to  let  down.  He  kept  himself  fit. 

The  School  of  the  Court  (1  Samuel  18:2  to 
21:9). — The  call  to  go  to  this  school  came  from 


David 


59 


king-  Saul — 18 :  2.  His  introduction  is  pleasant  for 
here  begins  that  friendship  with  Jonathan,  the  son 
of  Saul,  which  is  one  of  the  brightest  spots  in  the 
life  of  David.  But  this  is  a  much  harder  school 
than  the  first  because  that  here  David  must  exercise 
self-control  before  the  undeserved  and  uncalled-for 
envy  of  his  king.  After  David  slew  Goliath  instead 
of  its  bringing  him  praise  from  Saul  it  brought  only 
hatred  and  a  desire  to  kill. 

Consider  the  position  of  David,  high-minded,  en¬ 
thusiastic,  rejoicing  in  the  fact  that  he  has  done  a 
great  service  and  saved  the  nation  from  disastrous 
defeat,  when  he  has  a  javelin  thrown  at  him  with 
the  intent  to  pin  him  to  the  wall.  What  a  tumult 
there  must  have  been  in  his  feeling!  He  cannot 
realize,  at  first,  that  he  is  not  wanted  and  the  quicker 
he  takes  himself  out  of  the  way  the  better  it  will  be 
for  him. 

This  is  the  “  School  of  the  Court  ” — to  do  some 
service,  it  may  be  a  great  one,  and  then  find  it  not 
only  unappreciated  but  that  it  brings  enmity  and 
hatred.  That  David  refused  to  hate  and  envy  in 
return,  although  he  was  hunted  like  a  wild  beast, 
shows  his  marvelous  self-control  and  his  trust  in  his 
God — that  He  would  care  for  him. 

The  School  of  the  Outlaw  Camp  (1  Samuel 
21 : 10  to  31 : 13). — Nearly  eleven  chapters  are  given 
to  what  David  learned  here.  He  was  now  definitely 
out  of  court  life.  There  was  no  possible  return.  He 
was  an  outlaw.  The  royal  command  had  been  given 
to  kill  David — 1  Samuel  19 : 1 — but  at  first  he  did 
not  realize  that  it  was  really  meant.  When  he  did 


60  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

realize  it — 1  Samuel  21 : 10-15 — he  knew  what  fear 
could  do  to  him.  He  had  not  feared  the  lion  or  the 
bear  or  a  giant  or  the  Philistines  but  this  fear  was 
different.  It  took  hold  upon  his  heart  strings.  It 
paralyzed  his  mind.  He  fled  for  fear  of  Saul.  He 
had  never  feared  man  before.  He  had  never  feared 
an  enemy  before  and  yet  he  feigned  madness  in  the 
presence  of  the  king  of  Gath.  Many  a  man,  under 
such  an  experience,  would  let  bitterness  enter  into 
his  soul  and  he  would  determine,  within  himself,  that 
when  his  opportunity  came,  his  hand  would  take  the 
sword  and  be  revenged.  But  not  so  David,  even 
when  he  was  compelled  to  associate  with  outlaws — 
1  Samuel  22 : 1,  2.  He  shows  a  self-control  here 
that  is  marvelous.  During  this  period  of  his  life, 
when  he  could  have  taken  the  life  of  Saul  a  number 
of  times,  he  spares  him. 

King  Without  a  Kingdom. — While  David  was 
still  in  “  the  School  of  the  Open  Fields  ”  he  was 
anointed  king  of  Israel  by  Samuel — 16 : 1-13.  Saul 
was  still  living  and  reigning.  There  was  no  telling 
how  long  he  would  live  and  reign.  David  was  king 
without  a  kingdom.  David  must  have  wondered 
what  it  all  meant  when  he  was  passing  through  his 
hard  experiences.  Was  he  really  the  king?  The 
thought  must  have  come  to  him,  “  If  Saul  is  hunt¬ 
ing  me,  why  not  hunt  him?  Why  not  kill  him  and 
seize  the  kingdom?  I  can  do  it.  If  it  is  to  be  a 
fight — let  me  fight  as  well  as  Saul.”  This  is  the 
human  of  it.  When  many  a  man  comes  into  a 
similar  situation — he  grasps  what  he  can.  Again 
there  comes  in  the  factor  of  David's  life  where  he 


David 


61 


trusted  in  his  God — that  He  would  care  for  him  and 
straighten  things  out — and  that  in  the  meantime 
he  must  control  himself.  He  must  conquer  his 
natural  desire  to  take  things  into  his  own  hands 
and  compel  them  to  do  his  will  against  the  Divine 
Will. 

King  of  Half  a  Kingdom  (2  Samuel  2:4  to 
5:3). — When  Saul  and  Jonathan  were  dead — 
1  Samuel  Ch.  31  to  2  Samuel  1 : 1-16 — David 
showed  his  fine  spirit  in  the  beautiful  psalm  that  he 
composed  in  their  honour  (read  2  Samuel  1: 17-27). 
He  might  have  thought  that  he  would  immediately 
come  into  the  kingship  that  had  been  promised  him, 
when  he  was  anointed,  but  here  again  a  disappoint¬ 
ment  awaits  him.  He  was  now  to  take  about  a  seven 
years'  course  in  “  the  School  of  Delayed  Fulfillment 
of  Promises.”  It  is  not  easy  to  wait  for  something 
that  is  your  due  and  which  has  been  promised  you 
long  before. 

There  was  a  long  war  between  the  house  of 
Saul  and  the  house  of  David;  but  David  waxed 
stronger  and  stronger  and  the  house  of  Saul  waxed 
weaker  and  weaker  2  Samuel  3  : 1.  Israel's  re¬ 
jection  of  David  may  have  been  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  leaders  of  Israel  did  not  want  David,  who  had 
been  proclaimed  an  outlaw,  to  rule  over  them.  Here 
again  David  seems  to  have  exercised  his  wonderful 
self-control  in  not  pressing  matters  unduly.  The 
headquarters  of  David  was  at  Hebron. 

King  of  all  Israel  (2  Samuel  5:3  to  1  Kings 
2:10). — David’s  patience  and  self-control  were  at 
last  rewarded.  He  was  approached  by  the  elders  of 


62  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

Israel  and  asked  to  be  their  king  as  well  as  king  of 
Judah — 2  Samuel  5 : 1-3.  Samuel  had  anointed  him 
to  be  “  King  of  all  Israel  ” — 1  Samuel  16 : 1-13 — and 
he  was  now  king. 

The  Home  Political  Policy  of  David  was  central¬ 
ization  of  power.  He  at  once  besieged  Jerusalem, 
took  it  and  made  it  his  capital.  This  was  where  he 
dwelt  and  it  was  to  the  head  offices  in  this  city  that 
all  tribal  business  must  come — 2  Samuel  5. 

The  Religious  Policy  of  David  was  also  central¬ 
ization  of  worship.  As  speedily  as  possible  he 
brought  the  ark  to  Jerusalem  where  all  must  come, 
in  due  time,  for  the  performance  of  their  religious 
duties — 2  Samuel  6.  He  wanted  to  build  at  once  a 
suitable  temple  of  worship  but  he  was  bidden  to 
defer  it— 2  Samuel  7. 

The  Foreign  Policy  of  David  was  strong.  He 
was  vigorous  in  pushing  his  conquests  over  the 
enemies  of  Israel.  The  Ammonites,  the  Moabites, 
the  Edomites,  the  Scythians,  and  the  Amalekites 
were  made  vassals  and  the  borders  of  the  kingdom 
extended  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  River 
Euphrates. 

A  Great  Kingdom  was  built  up  from  the  nucleus 
of  a  weak  tribal  life  and  a  royal  line  was  established 
which  was  to  end  in  Christ  who  is  “  King  over  All.” 

David's  Army,  upon  which  he  could  draw,  would 
not  be  considered  small  even  in  modern  times 
(1,300,000  “men  that  drew  the  sword” — 2  Samuel 
24:9)  yet  his  whole  effort  was  for  peace  and  the 
religious  building  up  of  his  empire. 

The  One  Blot  on  David's  Life  is  his  treatment  of 


David 


63 

Bathsheba  and  Uriah.  And  this  sin  is  not  glossed 
over,  as  it  might  have  been,  in  the  account  of  his 
career — 2  Samuel  11.  He  bitterly  suffered  for  this 
sin  in  the  conduct  of  his  family,  and  the  multiplied 
troubles  that  came  upon  him.  He  lost  self-control 
and  went  down  into  the  depths.  It  is  difficult  to 
understand  how  a  man  like  David  could  so  forget 
himself  after  standing  up  under  so  many  greater 
trials. 

It  is  to  David’s  Great  Credit  that  when  the  Lord 
sent  Nathan,  the  prophet,  to  bring  to  his  attention 
his  sin  he  at  once  acknowledged  it  and  repented 
— 2  Samuel  12. 

Characteristics. — David  is  many  men  in  one. 
He  is  unsurpassed  as  poet.  His  short  poems — 
psalms — have  outlasted  all  others  and  are  to-day  as 
fresh  as  when  they  were  written.  For  loftiness  of 
thought  and  beauty  of  diction  they  stand  alone. 
They  charm  and  they  console.  In  connection  with 
this  lesson  David’s  “  Psalm  of  Thanksgiving,”  for 
deliverance  from  his  enemies,  should  be  read  aloud 
before  the  class — 2  Samuel,  chapter  22.  As  a  man 
of  war  he  knew  how  far  to  go  in  pressing  his  vic¬ 
tories.  As  a  statesman,  in  building  up  a  great  em¬ 
pire,  he  is  a  model.  As  a  friend — witness  the  friend¬ 
ship  between  him  and  Jonathan — he  is  ideal.  As  a 
man,  he  is  a  man  amongst  men,  he  had  rare  virtues. 
As  a  follower  of  God  he  knew  how  to  obey  Him  and 
worship  Him  as  few  men  do. 

Questions. — What  can  be  said  about  David ; 
how  long  is  the  interval  between  him  and  Saul? 
What  about  the  length  of  his  reign?  How  did  the 


64  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

Circumstances  differ  between  him  and  Saul  coming 
to  the  kingdom?  What  about  Self-Control?  What 
can  be  said  about  “  the  School  of  the  Open  Fields  ” 
and  David?  What  about  “the  School  of  the 
Court  ”  ?  What  about  “  the  School  of  the  Outlaw 
Camp”?  Give  some  account  of  David  as  “King 
Without  a  Kingdom.”  “  King  of  Half  a  Kingdom.” 
“  King  of  All  Israel.”  What  are  the  characteristics 
of  David? 


IX 


NEHEMIAH 

THE  MAN  WITH  MANY  ENEMIES 

Foreword. — We  consider*  here,  the  story  of 
Nehemiah  in  the  first  seven  chapters  of  the  book 
which  bears  his  name.  Where  and  how  did  this  man 
come  to  make  so  many  bitter  enemies  who  opposed 
and  tried  to  stop  his  work?  What  means  did  he  take 
to  get  the  better  of  them?  How  did  he  succeed? 

Before  we  answer  these  questions  we  must  first 
see  where  he  fits  into  the  Bible  plan,  and  the  im¬ 
portance  of  the  place  he  had  in  it. 

Between  King  David ,  in  our  last  study,  and 
Nehemiah  came  King  Solomon,  David’s  son,  who 
built  a  great  temple  for  the  worship  of  God  and  made 
Jerusalem  one  of  the  great  cities  of  the  ancient 
world.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  reign  he  fell  away 
from  the  worship  of  God  and  his  kingdom  declined. 
After  his  death  the  kingdom  split  into  two  parts — 
“The  Northern”  and  “The  Southern.”  The  first 
had  nineteen  kings  and  nine  dynasties.  The  second, 
with  its  seat  in  Jerusalem,  had  twenty  kings  and  one 
dynasty.  In  spite  of  repeated  prophetic  warnings  the 
people  fell  away  from  the  worship  of  God. 

The  Northern  Kingdom  was  carried  into  cap¬ 
tivity  by  the  Assyrians  in  722  b.  c.  and  the  Southern 
Kingdom,  by  the  Babylonians  in  586  b.  c.  The  mag- 

65 


66  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

nificent  temple  of  Solomon  was  destroyed,  the  pal¬ 
aces  burned,  and  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  were  broken 
down.  In  due  time  the  Babylonians  were  conquered 
by  the  Persians.  When  this  happened,  as  it  had  been 
foretold  by  the  prophets  the  “  Chosen  People  ”  were 
given  permission  to  return  home.  This  story  is  told 
in  the  book  of  Ezra.  This  happened  in  536  b.  c 
Zerubbabel  led  a  large  colony  back  to  Jerusalem. 
Houses  were  built  and  also  a  temple  but  the  walls  of 
the  city  were  not  built  up.  A  second  colony  was 
led  by  Ezra  about  sixty  years  later. 

The  City  Walls  in  Ruins. — Thirteen  years  after 
Ezra’s  second  colony  came  to  Jerusalem  or  seventy- 
three  years  after  permission  had  been  given  the 
“  Chosen  People  ”  to  return  from  captivity  and  re¬ 
build  Jerusalem  the  walls  of  the  city  were  still  in 
ruins.  Not  because  the  people  did  not  desire  to  re¬ 
build  them  but  because  of  the  bitter  opposition  of  the 
surrounding  small  nations.  In  consequence  the  city 
was  frequently  raided  and  there  was  little  assured 
safety  of  one’s  person  or  goods.  A  city,  in  constant 
anxiety  and  terror,  has  a  small  chance  of  growth. 
This  was  as  the  surrounding  peoples  intended  it 
should  be.  But  where  were  all  the  promises  given 
the  “  Chosen  People  ”  ?  Why  were  they  not  ful¬ 
filled  ? 

A  Rebuilding  Expedition  Organized. — The 
wretched  condition  of  Jerusalem  is  brought  to  the 
attention  of  Nehemiah — 1 : 1-3 — by  some  men  who 
had  just  returned  to  Susa,  the  capital  of  Persia.  He 
is  told  of  the  great  affliction  of  the  inhabitants,  of  the 
city  wall,  that  is  broken  down,  and  of  the  gates 


Nehemiah 


67 

burned  with  fire.  Nehemiah,  who  holds  a  high  office 
under  Artaxerxes,  the  king,  is  shocked  by  what  he 
hears.  So  much  so  that  he  weeps  and  mourns  over 
the  news  and  fasts  certain  days.  It  seems  to  him 
that  he  can  do  little  but  he  goes  to  God  in  most  ear¬ 
nest  prayer — 1 :  5-11.  A  while  after  this,  being  be¬ 
fore  the  king,  the  king  notices  his  anxiety,  in  his 
sadness  of  countenance  and  inquires  the  cause. 
Nehemiah  tells  him,  and  after  telling  him,  he  makes 
request  that  he  be  allowed  to  head  “An  Expedition 
to  Rebuild  the  Walls  of  Jerusalem.”  The  character 
of  Nehemiah  shines  forth,  in  this  request,  that  he 
may  help  his  afflicted  people.  He  was  at  ease,  in  a 
good  place,  why  should  he  concern  himself  about  the 
misfortunes  of  others?  He  not  only  thought  of  his 
people  in  sore  trouble,  wept  over  them,  enlisted  the 
help  of  others,  but  he  took  the  leading  part  in  a 
difficult  and  dangerous  undertaking — 2 : 1-8. 

King  Artaxerxes  gave  Nehemiah  all  due  authority 
to  do  that  which  he  asks  of  him. 

NehemialTs  Midnight  Ride  (2:9-17). — Nehe¬ 
miah  led  no  colony  of  people  as  Ezra  had  done.  He 
came  alone  to  Jerusalem — save  that  he  had  a  military 
escort.  Arrived  in  the  city  he  presented  his  letters 
of  the  king’s  authority.  He  was  in  the  city  three 
days  and  listened  attentively  to  all  that  was  told  him 
about  the  condition  of  affairs.  Then  he  determined 
to  see  for  himself  just  what  needed  to  be  done.  Tell¬ 
ing  no  one  of  his  intentions,  one  night  he  took  a  few 
men  and  went  out  to  see,  for  himself,  just  what  state 
the  walls  were  in.  He  rode  on  his  horse  as  far  as 
he  could  and  then,  when  the  way  became  impassable 


68  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

for  the  horse,  he  got  off  and  made  the  rest  of  the 
way  on  foot.  He  realized  the  necessity  of  having 
exact,  first  hand  knowledge  of  the  difficulties  of  the 
work  he  had  come  to  do. 

Rebuilding  Begins. — It  is  carried  forward  to 
completion.  That  which  two  large  colonies  of  the 
“  Chosen  People  ”  were  unable  to  accomplish  in 
seventy-three  years  this  man  Nehemiah  brought  to 
pass  in  fifty-one  days.  He  had  a  distinct  plan,  in 
his  mind,  of  what  he  wanted  to  do.  There  was  no 
doubt  about  it.  He  presented  that  plan  and  urged 
its  adoption.  He  organized  the  people  into  groups 
and  gave  to  each  group — 2 : 17-3  :  32— a  definite 
portion  of  the  wall  to  build  and  held  each  group 
responsible  for  its  work.  No  one  can  read  the  third 
chapter  without  being  convinced  of  the  masterly 
qualities  of  the  mind  of  Nehemiah.  We  have  here 
one  of  the  really  great  men  at  work.  His  methods 
are  the  only  methods  which  will  bring  results  that 
are  worth  while  to-day. 

Opposition  Tactics  of  NehemialTs  Enemies. — It 

is  not  to  be  supposed  that  those  who  opposed  the 
rebuilding  of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  for  seventy- 
three  years  would  remain  inactive  when  they  saw 
what  was  going  on  under  the  direction  of  Nehemiah. 
They  were  decidedly  not  inactive.  They  left  no 
stone  unturned  to  check  the  rebuilding  of  the  wall. 
They  used  fair  means  and  foul.  It  is  in  checkmating 
the  efforts  to  stop  this  important  work  and  keeping 
it  going,  at  high  speed,  that  the  genius  and  greatness 
of  Nehemiah  shines  forth. 

Let  us  look  at  some  of  the  hostile  methods  em- 


Nehemiah 


69 

ployed.  They  are  still  in  use.  The  way  Nehemiah 
dealt  with  them  is  still  the  best  way.  In  this  there 
has  been  no  advance.  Here  this  study  is  very,  very 
practical. 

First  method — Ridicule — 2 : 19  and  4 :  2.  The 
enemies  made  fun  of  that  which  was  being  done. 
They  said — “  What  do  these  feeble  Jews?”  Let 
them  go  on — the  work  will  amount  to  nothing.  Even 
if  they  do  build,  what  they  build  will  amount  to 
nothing.  A  fox  could  break  it  down.  People  do  not 
like  to  be  ridiculed.  Many  a  person  has  been  laughed 
out  of  their  religion  and  from  goodness  into  evil. 
Nehemiah  prayed  over  the  matter  and  asked  God  to 
turn  their  reproach  on  their  own  head — 4 : 4-6. 
Notice  this  that  he  kept  right  on,  ignoring  the  ridicule, 
with  the  work. 

Second  method — Fear — 4:7-23.  The  enemies 
sent  word  that  unless  the  work  was  stopped 
they  would  have  a  fight  on  their  hands.  This  was 
an  ultimatum.  It  is  always  the  policy  of  evil  to  in¬ 
timidate  wherever  it  can.  It  is  always  threatening 
and  blustering  of  what  it  will  do  if  its  plans  are 
interfered  with.  Nehemiah  told  the  people  to  go  on 
with  the  work.  He  set  a  watch.  He  organized 
companies  to  do  any  fighting  that  was  necessary.  He 
did  not  propose  to  be  intimidated.  No  fight  came. 
When  evil  finds  it  cannot  make  a  man,  engaged  in  a 
good  work,  afraid  it  lets  up  on  its  opposition. 

Third  method — Guile — 6 :  2-4.  It  is  that  of  a 
conference.  Nehemiah’s  enemies  said  to  him — 
“  Come  let  us  talk  this  matter  over.”  There  can  be 
no  harm  in  that  to  you.  Nehemiah  replied  that 


70  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

there  was  nothing  to  talk  over.  That  he  was  doing 
a  great  work  and  could  not  spend  the  time.  Many 
a  man  gets  entangled  in  evil  alliances  when  he  stops 
to  hold  conferences  with  those  whose  only  purpose  is 
to  promote  wrong  things.  There  are  some  things 
that  ought  never  to  be  discussed. 

Fourth  method — False  accusation — 6 : 5-9.  Nehe- 
miah  was  charged  with  doing  what  he  did  not 
for  the  benefit  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  but  for 
himself  that  he  might  cause  the  people  to  rebel  and 
that  he  might  be  king.  Word  is  sent  back  that  that 
charge  is  a  trumped  up  one  and  that  there  is  no  truth 
in  it.  It  is  simply  and  solely  made  to  hinder  the 
work.  No  good  and  disinterested  work  was  ever 
done,  by  any  one,  but  that  this  accusation  was  sure 
to  be  made — that  there  was  a  selfish  motive  behind  it. 
The  only  way  to  treat  this  is  by  denial  and  going  on 
with  the  work. 

Fifth  method — Temptation  to  tempt  God — 6:10- 
14 — by  shutting  himself — Nehemiah — up  in  the 
temple  and  hiding  there  as  if  he  had  done  something 
wrong.  He  refused  to  do  it. 

Sixth — Corruption  of  one's  friends  and  associates 
— 6 : 17-19— by  the  relation  of  evil  and  false  stories. 
This  is  about  the  meanest  thing  an  enemy  can  do. 
Nehemiah  makes  no  reply  save  that  it  was  done  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  fear. 

How  Nehemiah  Bested  His  Enemies. — A  man’s 
real  ability  comes  to  the  front  when  he  has  to  cope 
with  seemingly  insurmountable  obstacles  and  to  de¬ 
vise  ways  and  means  to  overcome  them.  A  man’s 
real  character  comes  to  the  front  when  he  stands 


Nehemiah 


71 

true  to  his  principles  in  the  midst  of  strong  tempta¬ 
tions  and  bitter  opposition.  Nehemiah  stands  these 
acid  tests.  There  are  certain  things  which  stand  out 
in  this  book  of  great  deeds  of  the  one  who  came, 
single  handed,  to  do  a  great  work  in  Jerusalem. 

First — He  was  a  man  of  prayer.  He  goes  again 
and  yet  again  to  God  to  help  him  solve  his  problems. 
Read  the  master  prayer — 1 :  5-11. 

Second — He  was  single  hearted  in  his  devotion 
to  his  God,  his  fellow  men  and  his  work. 

Third — He  took  no  chances  of  being  defeated  in 
carrying  out  his  plans.  He  took  every  proper  pre¬ 
caution  against  surprise  attacks. 

Fourth — He  encouraged  those  with  whom  he 
worked  and  put  heart  into  them. 

Questions. — What  is  said  in  “  The  Foreword  ”  of 
the  intervening  history  between  David  and  Nehe¬ 
miah?  What  is  said  of  the  city  walls  of  Jerusalem? 
What  is  said  of  the  expedition  to  rebuild  the  walls? 
Give  an  account  of  the  midnight  ride  of  Nehemiah. 
What  can  be  said  of  the  rebuilding  plan?  Give  an 
account  of  the  six  methods,  under  “  Opposition 
Tactics,”  used  by  Nehemiah’s  enemies  to  hinder  and 
prevent  his  work.  How  did  Nehemiah  get  the  better 
of  his  enemies — the  four  points? 


X 


JOB 

THE  MAN  OF  UNDESERVED  SUFFERING 

Job  is  a  Prosperous  Man  of  Large  Affairs  who 
comes  suddenly  face  to  face  with  the  problem 
of  undeserved  suffering.  The  whole  matter  is  set 
forth  in  the  book  of  Job.  It  has  no  connection  with 
Mosaic  Law  or  Israelitish  History  and  makes  no 
allusion  to  them. 

Disaster  After  Disaster  Falls  Upon  Job. — “  Four 

servants  come  running  in  turn  to  Job  bringing  him 
news  of  calamities:  the  first  spoke  of  robbers  who 
had  destroyed  property  and  servants;  the  second  of 
lightning  destroying  sheep  and  shepherds;  the  third 
of  three  bands  of  marauders  who  stole  all  the  camels 
and  killed  their  drivers;  the  fourth  of  a  cyclone 
which  destroyed  the  manor  house  and  killed  his  seven 
sons.”  After  a  little  time  has  passed  he  is  made  to 
suffer  by  the  affliction  of  sore  boils — 1 : 1-22  to  2 :  8. 
He  does  not  know  why. 

The  Problem  of  Human  Suffering  is  one  of  the 

big  mysteries  of  life.  Many  attempts  have  been 
made  to  solve  it.  Religion  and  philosophy  have  had 
endless  discussions  over  it  and  are  still  at  them. 
There  is  no  diminution  of  interest  because  it  is  a 
problem  of  universal  personal  concern.  The  experi¬ 
ences  of  Job,  in  a  large  or  small  way,  are  the  experi¬ 
ences  of  every  one. 


72 


Job 


73 


Deserved  suffering  we  can  understand.  When 
a  man  has  endeavored  to  put  through  an  evil  thing, 
and  is  caught  and  punished,  we  say  that  that  man  got 
just  what  he  deserved. 

Undeserved  suffering  baffles  us.  We  see  losses 
of  property,  disasters  of  all  sorts,  and  sickness  be¬ 
falling  those  so  far  as  we  know,  and  so  far  as  they 
can  see  themselves,  are  undeserved.  Once  in  a  while 
we  get  a  glimpse  of  “  The  Why  ”  of  things  but  not 
often.  But  it  should  be  said  that  that  glimpse  is 
often  very  illuminating.  Hence  our  great  interest 
in  Job  and  the  disasters  which  befell  him.  We  see 
here  a  gleam  of  light. 

Events  Hidden  from  Job.—In  the  opening  chap¬ 
ter  we  are  shown  the  cause  of  the  beginning  of  Job’s 
troubles.  We  see  what  is  going  on  behind  the  scenes. 
A  test  is  proposed  of  this  man’s  integrity  and  faith. 
If  he  had  been  informed,  in  advance,  he  would  have 
prepared  himself  but  then  there  would  have  been  no 
adequate  test.  This  testing  and  trying  out  of  men, 
for  their  fitness  and  adaptability  for  higher  positions 
in  the  business  and  professional  world,  is  what  is 
going  on  every  day.  Some  men  in  this  way  are  put 
through  grilling  experiences — not  for  the  purpose  of 
inflicting  undeserved  suffering,  far  from  it,  but  to 
ascertain  whether  the  man  has  his  heart  in  the  work 
or  does  it  because  of  the  stipend  or  reward  he  gets 
from  it.  The  direct  charge  made  by  Satan  was  that 
Job  served  God,  not  because  he  loved  Him  but  from 
what  he  got  out  of  it.  He  asks — “  Doth  Job  fear 
God  for  naught?  ”  Satan  declares  that  God  has  put 
a  hedge  about  Job  that  makes  it  to  Job’s  personal 


74  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

interest  to  serve  Him.  But  take  away  that  hedge 
and  “  he  will  curse  thee  to  thy  face.”  Job  is  then 
given  over  for  the  testing  in  the  loss  of  his  property 
and  severe  bodily  affliction. 

Events  Known  to  Job. — He  knows  nothing  of 
what  is  going  on  behind  the  scenes;  he  only  knows 
that  he  is  being  hit  and  hit  hard.  He  is  totally  at  a 
loss  to  know  why  the  blows  come  and  who  is  giving 
them.  He  loses  his  property.  His  children  are 
killed.  He  is  afflicted  with  “  sore  boils  from  the  sole 
of  his  foot  unto  his  crown.”  Three  candid  friends 
accuse  him  of  sins  of  which  he  is  not  guilty  and 
which  he  abhors.  It  has  been  remarked  that  prob¬ 
ably  Job  could  have  withstood  his  other  trials  more 
easily  if  it  had  not  been  for  his  candid  friends  who 
tried  to  show  him  the  error  of  his  ways.  From  the 
replies  of  Job  to  his  friends’  accusations  of  a  con¬ 
cealed  evil  life  which  causes  his  troubles — now  out 
in  the  open — Job  can  make  no  adequate  reply  save 
that  he  is  not  guilty  in  thought  or  action.  He  calls 
upon  God  to  witness  his  innocence.  He  wishes  he 
might  find  Him  to  present  his  cause  before  Him. 

The  Point  of  the  Book,  or  the  Pivot  on  which  it 
Turns  is  not  so  much  the  solution  of  the  problem 
of  undeserved  suffering  (for  after  all  the  discussions 
up  and  down  and  all  around — we  do  not  find  much 
advancement  in  it)  as  the  question  of  whether  Job 
stands  fast  in  his  principles  and  his  faith  in  God? 

The  first  test  that  Job  will  denounce  his  God, 
when  he  loses  his  property,  is  successfully  passed. 
He  does  not  lose  his  faith. 

The  second  test  that  Job  will  denounce  his  God, 


Job 


75 


when  his  body  is  sore  afflicted,  is  successfully  passed. 
He  is  proved  to  be  a  man  who  is  single-hearted,  irre¬ 
spective  of  what  he  gets  for  it,  in  his  service  of  God. 

It  should  be  noted  that  Satan  proposes  no  third 
test.  He  has  no  hold  upon  a  man  who  withstands 
his  first  two  tests.  These  tests  were  not  something 
peculiar  to  Job;  they  are  being  applied,  in  one  way 
and  another,  to  every  man  and  every  woman,  to 
every  boy  and  girl,  every  day.  If  successfully 
passed — there  is  a  “  Going  Up  ”  in  the  grade  of  moral 
character — if  not — there  is  a  “  Going  Down  ”  in 
grade  of  moral  character. 

The  Three  Candid  Friends — Eliphaz,  Bildad  and 
Zophar — of  Job  appear  early  upon  the  scene  and  re¬ 
main  until  the  end — Job  2 : 11  to  42 : 17.  Every  pos¬ 
sible  phase  of  human  suffering,  and  its  application  to 
human  life,  is  discussed.  There  is  here  brought  forth 
all  that  the  human  mind  can  suggest  on  the  subject 
of  retributive  justice  apart  from  revelation.  There 
are  three  cycles  in  the  discussion,  in  which  each 
friend  speaks  and  Job  answers,  except  in  the  last 
when  Zophar  remains  silent.  This  discussion  is  not 
only  interesting  but  necessary  in  the  showing  of  the 
supreme  value  of  the  position  of  Job. 

Before  we  consider  this  discussion  further  let  us 
take  a  look  at  Job's  “  Three  Candid  Friends."  They 
had  evidently  met  by  appointment,  had  talked  over 
his  case,  and  determined  to  go  and  labour  with  him 
on  the  error  of  his  ways.  They  knew  what  they  were 
going  to  say  and  how  they  were  going  to  say  it.  Job 
doubtless  said,  before  they  got  through  with  him,  as 
many  a  man  has  said  before  and  since — “  Good  Lord, 


Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

deliver  me  from  candid  friends  ”  who  delight  to  tell 
me  my  faults  while  I  hesitate  to  tell  them  theirs.,, 
But  when  they  saw  Job — this  former,  big,  hearty, 
upstanding  man — so  worn  and  thin  and  sick  by  rea¬ 
son  of  his  boils  they  were  struck  dumb.  They  said 
nothing,  at  all,  to  him  for  seven  days  and  seven 
nights.  Then  they  girded  themselves  for  their  self- 
appointed  task  of  bringing  Job  to  a  knowledge  of  his 
faults. 

The  discussion  is  in  three  cycles — First — chapters 
4  to  14.  The  purpose  is  to  show  that  sin  is  the 
cause  of  suffering.  If  a  man  is  sorely  afflicted  he 
must  have  been  a  great  sinner.  Second — Ch.  15 
to  21.  An  advanced  position  is  taken.  Job  is  held 
to  be  actually  guilty  of  some  great  sin  which  has 
produced  his  suffering.  Third — 22  to  31.  Job’s 
friends  are  shown  at  their  worst.  The  attempt  is 
made  to  show  that  the  punishments  with  which  Job 
is  afflicted  are  the  very  ones  which  would  be  meted 
out  to  a  man  who  had  yielded  to  the  temptations  of  a 
man  in  his  position.  They  insist  that  Job  has  com¬ 
mitted  great  sins. 

Job  insists  that  he  is  innocent  and  stands  fast 
in  his  integrity.  He  asserts  that  man  knows  little  of 
the  unsearchable  wisdom  of  his  Creator. 

The  Speech  of  Elihu  (Ch.  32  to  37). — A  young 
man.  A  relative  of  Job.  He  asserts  that  Job  has 
maintained  his  righteousness.  He  has  a  new  theory 
to  advance  in  regard  to  unmerited  suffering  and  that 
is  that,  by  it,  God  is  instructing  men  in  righteousness 
and  saving  them  from  the  commission  of  sin.  Job 
makes  no  answer. 


Job 


77 


The  Divine  Intervention  (38  to  41). — First — 
God  is  represented  as  speaking  out  of  a  whirlwind  and 
to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  man  ought  to  know, 
at  least,  why  such  strange  instincts  are  given  even  to 
animals  before  he  attempts  to  argue  with  their  Maker. 
Second — God  is  represented  as  saying  that  before 
man  brings  a  charge  of  injustice  against  Him  he 
should  be  able  to  rule  the  universe  and  reduce  all 
things  to  order.  If  man  is  baffled  by  the  simplest 
problems  how  can  he  contend  with  God  ? 

The  Restoration  of  Job  (Ch.  42). — He  and  his 
friends  bow  themselves  before  the  wisdom,  power, 
justice  and  glory  of  God. 

Job  has  been  tested  by  the  most  severe  trials 
and  stands  fast  in  his  integrity.  It  is  shown  that  a 
man  can  and  will  serve  God  under  what  seem  to  be 
impossible  and  grueling  conditions  and  circumstances. 

Questions. — What  can  be  said  of  Job,  the  pros¬ 
perous  man  ?  What  about  the  disasters  that  fall  upon 
Job?  What  is  the  problem  of  human  suffering; 
deserved  and  undeserved?  What  can  be  said  of  the 
events  hidden  from  Job?  Of  the  events  known  to 
Job?  What  is  the  point  of  the  book  of  Job?  What 
can  be  said  of  the  three  “  Candid  Friends  ”  of  Job? 
Give  their  three  arguments.  How  does  Job  answer? 
What  can  be  said  of  the  speech  of  Elihu,  the  Divine 
Intervention  and  Job’s  restoration? 


XI 


ISAIAH 

THE  WORLD  PROPHET  AND  STATESMAN 

The  Man — Isaiah. — He  lived  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  city  of  Jerusalem.  His  father’s  name  was  Amoz. 
He  had  a  wife  and  two  sons.  He  was  very  active, 
as  a  citizen,  in  all  municipal  affairs.  He  took  a 
large  interest  in  national  and  international  politics. 
In  all  things  that  concerned  the  people,  for  their 
good,  he  could  be  counted  on  to  take  a  leading  part. 
He  stood  out  in  the  open.  Every  one  knew  Isaiah. 

The  Prophet — Isaiah. — He  has  been  called  “  The 
Greatest  of  All  the  Prophets.”  We  take  here  the 
account  of  his  work  found  in  the  first  thirty-nine 
chapters  of  the  book  which  bears  his  name.  The 
office  of  prophet  was  an  ancient  one.  Samuel  is 
looked  upon  as  the  founder,  but  the  matter  probably 
goes  back  beyond  him.  The  Bible  represents  the 
prophet  as  one  who  speaks  for  another.  He  was 
supposed  to  communicate  the  message  of  God  to  His 
people.  Read  chapters  one  and  six  and  see  how  emi¬ 
nently  true  this  was  of  Isaiah.  He  says — “  Hear,  O 
heavens,  and  give  ear,  O  earth:  for  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  ” — 1 :  2.  He  believed  that  he  was  called  of 
God  to  do  his  work — ch.  6. 

He  taught — First,  the  greatness,  unity,  holiness, 
spirituality,  goodness  and  justice  of  God;  Sec- 

78 


Isaiah 


79 


ond,  Love  of  country.  He  was  an  ardent  patriot. 
For  the  religion  of  Jehovah  must  have  a  suitable 
place  for  its  development  and  that  place  was  “  The 
Chosen  Nation  ” ;  Third,  The  whole  earth  belonged 
to  God  and  hence  all  nations  came  within  the  province 
of  God’s  prophet.  He  had  messages  for  Assyria, 
Babylon,  Egypt,  Syria,  Moab,  Edom,  etc.  See  chs. 
13, 14, 15, 16,  17, 18,  19,  etc. ;  Fourth,  The  coming  of 
a  universal  king  and  kingdom — chs.  2,  9,  11,  etc.; 
Fifth,  He  called  not  only  his  own  but  all  nations  to 
repentance  and  faith  in  God.  Many  of  his  predic¬ 
tions  in  regard  to  the  ancient  nations  have  been  ful¬ 
filled.  What  he  taught  is  as  pertinent  to-day  as  it 
was  when  he  was  on  earth;  there  is  a  freshness  and 
beauty  here  that  is  unsurpassed. 

The  Scene  of  His  Labours — Jerusalem. — It  was 
no  mean  city.  It  was  midway  between  the  great 
capitals  of  Assyria  and  Egypt.  It  was  strongly  forti¬ 
fied  with  huge  walls.  It  was  outwardly  splendid  in 
all  its  appointments.  Here  were  the  great  palaces  of 
the  king,  his  nobles  and  the  merchant  princes.  King 
Solomon’s  Temple,  probably  the  most  magnificent 
religious  structure  ever  erected,  was  still  standing. 
Its  business  ventures  reached  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

The  Spirit  of  the  Times  was  commercial ;  much, 
very  much,  like  our  own.  It  is  remarkable  how 
close  the  resemblance  is.  “  The  Chosen  People  ”  had 
passed  through  two  stages  of  development — First, 
The  nomadic,  the  desert  wandering;  Second,  The 
agricultural,  dwelling  on  and  cultivating  the  land 
which  they  had  conquered  in  Canaan.  Now  there 
had  come  a  third  state  in  which  the  Jewish  nation  had 


8o  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


become  traders  having  large  dealings  with  the  sur¬ 
rounding  nations ;  fitting  out  caravans  and  ships  and 
sending  and  receiving  embassies.  The  head  offices 
were  all  in  Jerusalem.  Here  was  no  longer  “  A  Shut 
in  Nation/’  The  growth  of  the  commercial  spirit  is 
very  marked  from  the  times  of  King  Solomon  on 
through  the  divided  kingdom. 

We  have  now  to  deal  with  the  city  and  city 
life  developed  at  the  expense  of  the  country,  social 
wants  and  sins,  the  evils  of  great  wealth  quickly  won, 
dire  poverty — the  dark  shadow  flung  by  immense 
wealth — and  ostentatious  luxury.  Foreign  vices 
were  brought  in  with  foreign  goods.  The  times 
changed  and  the  people  with  them.  “  The  Chosen 
Nation  ”  sought  not  to  be  conformed  to  the  religion 
of  Jehovah  and  His  laws  but  to  be  like  the  great  and 
evil  nations  with  which  they  were  surrounded. 

It  is  quite  necessary  to  keep  in  mind  this  back¬ 
ground  in  order  to  understand  what  Isaiah  tried 
to  do.  He  knows  just  what  will  happen — and  it  hap¬ 
pened — if  the  people  do  not  take  heed  to  their  ways. 
He  raises  a  warning  voice.  He  pleads.  He  entreats. 
He  urges  the  people  to  return  to  God  and  to  obey 
Him  before  it  is  too  late.  He  is  no  sour  and  dour 
prophet  but  he  paints  glowing  pictures  of  the  people’s 
future  if  they  will  turn  to  God.  These  pictures  be¬ 
come  reality  when  they  do  turn  to  God;  but  un¬ 
fortunately  the  return  is  short  lived. 

The  Political  Situation. — From  recent  dis¬ 
coveries  in  ancient  Bible  lands  we  are  just  beginning 
to  realize  the  great  issues  with  which  Isaiah  was 
dealing.  Judah,  a  comparatively  small  kingdom. 


Isaiah 


81 


after  Israel  was  conquered  and  taken  into  captivity 
in  722,  was  not  easy  to  keep  as  an  independent  king¬ 
dom  between  the  two  huge  empires, — dividing  be¬ 
tween  them  the  sovereignty  of  the  then  known  world. 
The  two  empires — Assyria  on  the  north  and  Egypt  on 
the  south — were  always  threatening  to  gather  in  this 
buffer  state  of  Judah.  Each  hesitated  to  take  it  but 
intrigued  to  get  it  to  declare  itself. 

Let  us  take  one  thing  that  happened  which 
will  show  what  a  big  task  Isaiah  had.  He 
prophesied  under  the  kings  of  Judah — 740  to  701 
b.  c. — Uzziah,  Jotham,  Ahaz  and  Hezekiah.  Isaiah 
managed  to  keep  Uzziah  and  Jotham  from  burning 
their  fingers  with  Assyria  and  Egypt.  Ahaz,  how¬ 
ever,  would  have  none  of  Isaiah’s  advice.  He  re¬ 
pudiated  the  worship  of  Jehovah,  closed  the  temple. 
He  urged  the  worship  of  Baal  and  offered  human 
sacrifices.  A  quarrel  was  picked  with  Israel  and 
Syria  and  when  Ahaz  found  that  he  would  be  de¬ 
feated  he  called  upon  Assyria  to  help  him.  That  was 
just  what  Assyria  had  been  hoping  he  would  do.  The 
result  was,  in  the  end  a  while  afterwards,  the  cap¬ 
tivity  of  Israel  and  the  near  wiping  out  of  Judah. 

Isaiah  advocated  the  policy  of  letting  the  big 
evil  nations  alone ,  entirely  alone.  Let  them  fight 
their  own  battles.  The  little  nation  that  got  mixed 
up  with  them  was  sure  to  get  the  worst  of  it.  Then 
their  religion  was  totally  and  utterly  opposite  to  that 
of  “  The  Chosen  People/’  It  allowed  and  advocated 
immoralities  which  would,  in  time,  wreck  the  nation 
— which  all  came  true. 

Warnings  Against  Entangling  Alliances. — Isaiah 


82  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

continued  to  urge,  in  the  strongest  language  possible, 
that  Judah  stand  out  against  political  and  religious 
alliances  with  nations  whose  purposes  and  ideals 
differed  fundamentally  with  those  of  “  The  Chosen 
People.”  No  matter  how  attractive  they  might  seem 
to  be;  yet,  in  the  end,  they  would  be  disastrous. 
This  is  still  good  advice  not  only  for  nations  but 
individuals. 

Take  the  story  of  King  Hezekiah — told  in  the 
thirty-sixth  and  thirty-seventh  chapters.  Sennacherib, 
king  of  Assyria,  when  he  found  he  could  not  gain,  by 
diplomacy,  the  little  kingdom  of  Judah,  came  with 
a  huge  army  and  besieged  Jerusalem.  He  demanded 
its  surrender  or  sack  and  pillage.  Hezekiah  went  to 
Isaiah  and  Isaiah  adhered  to  his  policy  of  making  no 
entangling  alliance  with  Assyria.  The  result  was 
that  Sennacherib  retired  and  the  little  kingdom  of 
Judah  remained  independent  through  its  trust  in  its 
God. 

The  urge  of  Isaiah — against  entangling  alli¬ 
ances  and  covenants  between  nations  whose  sole 
reliance  is  on  force,  as  in  the  case  of  Assyria,  and 
others  who  seek  to  advance  by  the  methods  of  peace 
and  service — is  still  the  only  policy  which  will  win 
out.  Every  individual,  to  really  amount  to  anything, 
must  stand  fast,  in  his  integrity,  no  matter  what 
happens. 

Isaiah’s  Work  for  His  Own  People. — He  was  an 
ardent  patriot.  He  realized  that  “  The  Religion  of 
Jehovah  ”  must  have  a  suitable  environment,  in  which 
to  live  and  work.  No  matter  how  strongly  a  nation 
or  man  may  be  grounded  in  right  principles  they  are 


Isaiah 


83 

hindered  or  helped  by  wrong  or  right  surroundings. 
Isaiah  understood  this  thing  very  thoroughly  and 
hence  he  was  strong  in  his  advocacy  of  that  which 
bettered  his  city  and  his  nation.  If  there  had  been 
popular  elections  in  those  days  he  would  have  been 
found  advocating,  openly  and  enthusiastically,  the 
right  things  in  the  campaign,  voting  himself  and 
urging  others  to  vote. 

World  Prophet  and  Statesman. — No  one  realized 
more  than  Isaiah  that  not  only  must  good  work  be 
done  at  home  but  that  missionary  work  must  be  done 
abroad.  That  the  field  was  the  world  and  it  was  the 
business  of  every  one  having  the  good  of  his  own 
people  at  heart  also  to  have  the  good  of  the  world  at 
heart.  Hence  his  prophecies  cover  the  nations  of 
the  whole  earth.  This  does  not  contradict  Isaiah’s 
position  in  regard  to  keeping  out  of  entangling  alli¬ 
ances  with  evil.  There  is  no  hope  that  way  of  better¬ 
ing  anybody  or  anything. 

Modern  Uses  of  Isaiah’s  Prophecies. — First — To 
strengthen  our  faith  in  the  certainty  of  God’s 
reign  and  rule  upon  this  earth.  We  go  and  read  the 
resurrected  monuments  of  Assyria  and  Egypt  and 
see  that  all  that  Isaiah  said  of  their  might  is  true. 
We  see  also  that  all  he  said  of  their  total  ruin  and 
destruction  has  come  true.  It  was  a  most  incredu¬ 
lous  thing — when  the  prophecies  were  uttered — that 
they  would  ever  be  fulfilled.  Again  that  which  he 
said  about  the  coming  of  The  Messiah  was  begun, 
hundreds  of  years,  afterwards  and  is  even  now  going 
on  unto  fulfillment.  Second — To  give  us  far-sighted¬ 
ness.  That  we  may  see  and  believe  that  however  evil 


84  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

may  seem  to  triumph  that,  in  the  end,  it  is  sure  to  be 
defeated.  Third — to  help  us  to  believe  that  every¬ 
thing  we  do  to  help  advance  the  Kingdom  of  God 
will  surely  have  its  reward. 

Questions. — What  can  be  said  of  Isaiah  as  a 
man?  As  a  prophet?  Where  was  the  scene  of  his 
labours?  What  was  the  spirit  of  the  times?  What 
was  the  political  situation  ?  What  were  the  warnings 
against  entangling  alliances  ?  What  was  Isaiah’s 
work  for  his  own  people?  What  can  be  said  of 
Isaiah  as  a  world  prophet  and  statesman?  Give  the 
three  modern  uses  of  Isaiah’s  prophecies. 


XII 


JEREMIAH 

THE  MAN  WHO  KEPT  FAITH  UNDER  HARD 

LIMITATIONS 

Jeremiah,  the  Prophet,  is  burdened  with  oppres¬ 
sive  restraints.  Serving  God,  with  all  his  heart,  and 
obeying  Him,  in  all  things,  he  never  gets  out  from 
under  his  restrictions.  He  never  has  a  respite. 
Things,  with  him,  grow  worse — never  better.  Abra¬ 
ham,  Joseph,  Moses,  Nehemiah,  all  had  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  but  they  overcame  it.  Even  Job,  after 
going  down,  away  down,  into  the  valley  of  humilia¬ 
tion,  came  again  to  the  upland  of  joy  and  prosperity, 
but  not  so  this  prophet. 

The  Question  Presented  is — How  could  Jeremiah 
keep  his  faith  and  do  his  “  God- Appointed  Work  ”  in 
the  midst  of  such  depressing  circumstances?  This  is 
a  very  practical  modern  question.  Why?  Because 
men,  to-day,  not  infrequently  get  into  difficulties, 
through  no  fault  of  their  own.  They  can  see  no  hope 
of  extricating  themselves.  Friends,  relatives,  and 
associates  seem  utterly  indifferent  to  their  plight. 
Again  men  and  women,  stirred  by  the  evils  they  see 
about  them,  and  the  havoc  they  are  making  in  tear¬ 
ing  down  all  good  things,  start  campaigns  of  ref  oral 
only  to  be  laughed  at  and  ridiculed  as  Jeremiah  was. 

The  Book  of  Jeremiah,  where  the  life,  call,  and 

35 


86  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


work  of  the  prophet  are  set  forth,  consists  of  fifty- 
two  chapters  of  condensed  material.  It  is  a  com¬ 
bination  of  prophecy,  history  and  biography. 

It  may  be  divided  into  nine  sections — First, 
Ch.  1,  The  prophet’s  call.  His  mission  is  not  only 
to  his  own  but  all  nations;  Second,  chs.  2-6,  The 
sins  of  Judah  set  forth;  Third,  chs.  7-10,  The  call  to 
repentance.  Calamities  are  sure  to  come  unless  the 
warning  is  heeded ;  Fourth,  chs.  11-13,  An  appeal  is 
made  to  the  covenant  between  God  and  His  people; 
Fifth,  chs.  14-22,  The  failure  of  the  people  to  heed 
the  prophet.  Disaster  and  captivity  foretold;  Sixth, 
chs.  23-29,  Jeremiah  sees  no  hope  of  betterment  in 
his  time  for  this  “  Chosen  People  ”  and  he  looks 
ahead  for  seventy  years  and  sees  a  return  from 
captivity;  Seventh,  chs.  30-33,  Consolations  that  will 
come  after  seventy  years  of  captivity;  Eighth,  chs. 
34-45,  Incidents  of  the  siege  and  destruction  of  Jeru¬ 
salem.  (Chs.  35  and  36  are  out  of  place,  here,  and 
belong  to  the  reign  of  King  Jehoiakim.)  Chs.  37-45, 
Jeremiah’s  personal  history  during  the  siege  of  Jeru¬ 
salem;  Ninth,  chs.  46-52,  World-wide  survey  of 
nations  and  prophecies  concerning  them.  This  book 
ought  to  be  read  through. 

The  Call  (Ch.  1)  came  to  Jeremiah  in  the  little 
village  of  Anathoth,  north  of  Jerusalem,  where  he 
had  his  home.  He  was  of  priestly  descent.  He  was 
commanded  to  form  no  domestic  or  social  ties  (ch. 
16:2).  He  was  set  apart  for  such  a  great  work  that 
he  must  forego  all  pleasant  relations  with  other  peo¬ 
ple. 

The  Treatment  which  he  receives  from  his  own 


Jeremiah 


87 

people  was  hard  to  hear.  His  message  was  ridiculed. 
The  chief  governor,  Pashur  the  priest,  in  the  house 
of  the  Lord  in  Jerusalem  ordered  him  to  be  beaten 
and  placed  in  the  stocks  as  an  object  of  scorn  (ch. 
20:1,  2).  King  Jehoiakim  was  so  contemptuous  of 
the  message  of  Jeremiah  that  he  had  received  of 
God  (ch.  36),  that  when  but  a  few  pages  had  been 
read  to  him  (ch.  36:23)  he  cut  it  to  pieces  with 
a  penknife  and  threw  it  into  the  fire  and  it  was 
burned  up.  These  are  but  instances  of  what  Jere¬ 
miah  was  constantly  called  upon  to  bear.  He  was 
human  and  of  a  sensitive  nature  and  he  was  cut  to 
the  quick.  No  man  likes  to  be  ridiculed  and  laughed 
at  when  he  is  trying  to  help  his  fellow  men  and  do 
God’s  service. 

The  Times  were  sadly  out  of  joint.  It  is  not  a 
pleasant  picture  which  this  age  presents.  Old-time 
big  empires  were  breaking  up.  Doubtless  many 
were  looking  for  the  end  of  the  world  or  the  death  of 
civilization  and  the  return  to  barbarism.  We  are 
just  beginning  to  realize  the  extent,  in  culture,  to 
which  these  nations  had  attained.  The  recent  exca¬ 
vations  of  buried  cities  and  ancient  tombs  show  this. 

The  World  War .  Jeremiah’s  prophecies  con¬ 
cern  Egypt  and  Babylon  and  Assyria,  etc.  He  saw 
Egypt,  in  his  time,  priding  herself  on  her  might  and 
power.  He  saw  Assyria  and  Babylon  contending  for 
the  mastery  of  the  world.  He  saw  Assyria,  the  levi¬ 
athan  of  empires,  crumble  and  go  to  pieces  before 
Babylon.  He  saw  Egypt  dispute  with  Babylon  and 
go  down  before  her.  He  saw  these  mighty  nations 
kick  Judah  about  as  football  players  kick  the  leather 


88  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


ball  and  with  no  more  concern  for  it  save  to  win  a 
certain  goal.  To  one  not  having  the  key,  in  this 
mix-up  of  nations,  it  must  have  seemed  a  hopeless 
tangle.  Shortly  Judah  was  to  be  taken  captive  by 
Babylon,  the  mighty.  But  wait!  Just  wait!  God 
showed  to  Jeremiah  the  key  to  it  all.  Read  what  the 
prophet  says  about  these  great  nations — especially 
Babylon  (ch.  50)  and  note  how  they  are  all  to  go — be 
wiped  clean  off  the  slate  and  this  little  nation  of 
Judah  is  to  survive  them  all.  This  prophecy  has 
literally  come  to  pass.  Yet  this  is  the  far-sighted 
great  man,  Jeremiah,  which  his  people  ridiculed. 

The  downfall  of  Jerusalem ,  the  raising  of  its 
walls  and  the  destruction  of  the  temple.  Everything 
was  to  go  and  did  go.  Jeremiah  predicted  it  and  saw 
it  come  to  pass.  Because  he  predicted  it,  he  was 
maligned,  ridiculed  and  persecuted.  The  people 
could  have  prevented  it  by  repentance  but  they  would 
not  repent.  Jeremiah  prophesied  during  the  reigns 
of  Josiah,  Jehoahaz,  Jehoiachim,  Jehoiachin  and 
Zedekiah.  Under  the  last  king,  in  586  b.  c.,  Jeru¬ 
salem  was  taken  and  her  walls  torn  down. 

The  Mission  of  Jeremiah  (that  Jerusalem  was 
to  be  devastated  and  the  people  taken  into  captivity  to 
Babylon)  was  not  an  agreeable  one.  He  was  like  a 
clergyman  deputed  to  accompany  a  criminal  to  the 
scaffold  who  has  been  convicted  of  a  brutal  murder. 
The  man  has  been  proved  guilty  beyond  the  shadow 
of  a  doubt  but  he  has  no  sense  of  regret  for  his  crime 
and  no  word  of  repentance.  He  turns  a  deaf  ear  to 
all  the  clergyman  has  to  say  and  resents  his  attend¬ 
ance.  Judah  had  sinned  and  continued  to  sin  fla- 


Jeremiah  89 

grantly  and  openly  and  when  the  sin  was  made  plain 
there  was  no  word  of  regret. 

The  Outlook  of  the  prophet  is  marvelous.  He 
has  seen  the  map  of  the  future  and  just  what  is  going 
to  be  done.  He  can  find  no  comfort  or  hope  in  the 
present  for  God’s  purposes  cannot  be  worked  out  in 
a  year  or  two.  He  takes  the  centuries  to  bring  His 
plans  to  pass.  The  difference  between  the  small  man 
and  the  big  man  is  the  difference  in  seeing  only  to-day 
and  beyond  to-day  into  the  future — the  far  distant 
future. 

How  did  Jeremiah  Keep  His  Faith  Under  the 
Hard  Limitations  with  which  He  Had  to  Contend? 

is  not  so  hard  to  answer  when  we  come  to  see  what 
that  faith  was  and  what  it  meant  to  him.  He  was 
under  the  limitations  of — to  speak  humanly — loneli¬ 
ness,  ostracism — no  one  wanted  anything  to  do  with 
him — contempt  and  ridicule  of  his  fellow  men.  He 
was  under  the  limitations  of  seeing  everything  which 
he  had  learned  to  love,  respect  and  reverence  go  by 
the  board.  No  longer  would  there  be  any  Holy  City 
or  Temple. 

He  kept  his  faith  and  prophesied  most  enthu¬ 
siastically  of  the  return  of  his  people  from  captivity 
and  the  glorious  future  in  store  for  them;  First, 
because  he  believed  he  had  seen  God’s  map  of  the 
future  and  its  brightness  so  that  the  darkest  immedi¬ 
ate  present  did  not  trouble  him  at  all.  What  to-day 
is  the  poverty  and  poor  condition  of  a  man  who  is  to 
come,  to-morrow,  into  a  great  inheritance?  Second 
— He  had  learned,  what  every  one  must  learn  in  this 
world,  to  be  at  all  happy,  that  material  things  can 


90  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

never  satisfy  an  immortal  soul.  Stripped  of  all 
possessions  what  is  a  man  in  his  relations  to  his  God  ? 
How  does  he  stand  in  the  riches  or  poverty  of  his 
soul?  Third — He  had  come  so  in  touch  with  God 
that  he  was  seeing,  through  God’s  eyes,  what  evil  and 
sin  and  righteousness  really  are.  No  man  ever 
fought  a  harder  battle  or  gained  a  greater  victory 
than  Jeremiah.  He  had  the  upward  way,  open  to  all, 
of  escape.  He  took  it.  Fourth — He  never  gave  up 
his  work. 

Practical  Applications. — They  are  many.  Mul¬ 
titudes  of  people  are  lamenting  over  their  limi¬ 
tations,  hard,  bitter  and  oppressive.  “  We  are 
hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  relentless  limitations.” 
There  are  the  limitations  of  time — we  never  have 
enough  of  it;  physical  strength;  mental  equipment — 
we  cannot  think  things  out  as  we  want  to;  money! 
who  has  sufficient?  So  many  things  to  do  with  a 
too  limited  equipment  to  do  them.  We  expand,  as 
much  as  we  can,  and  yet  cannot  get  beyond  our 
limitations.  We  are  apt  to  meet  our  limitations  and 
chafe  under  them,  we  go  limp,  we  fight  but  there  they 
are  just  the  same.  The  Jeremiah  way  was  to  accept 
them,  to  be  content  and  work  under  them  making 
the  way  of  escape  upward  to  God  and  endeavouring 
to  carry  out  His  purposes  right  where  he  was. 

Questions. — What  can  be  said  of  the  prophet’s 
burden  ?  What  is  the  question  presented  ?  Give  the 
nine  parts  of  the  book  of  Jeremiah.  What  can  be 
said  of  Jeremiah’s  call,  treatment,  times,  mission  and 
outlook?  How  did  Jeremiah  keep  his  faith  under 
hard  limitations?  What  practical  applications  can 
be  made  ? 


XIII 

EZEKIEL 


THE  MAN  WHO  HAD  GREAT  VISIONS 

The  Boy,  Ezekiel,  in  the  City  of  Jerusalem  was 

of  priestly  descent.  He  lived  in  the  time  of  the  good 
King  Josiah.  He  saw  a  wonderfully  prosperous  city. 
New  buildings  were  going  up  everywhere  of  the  most 
solid  and  ornate  construction.  The  old  Temple  of 
Solomon,  which  had  fallen  somewhat  into  disrepair, 
was  being  put  into  fine  shape.  It  was  thronged  with 
worshippers.  The  “  Book  of  the  Law  ”  was  made 
prominent.  The  nation  was  enlarging  its  borders. 
Everything  seemed  to  point  to  a  long  era  of  glorious 
prosperity.  The  boy  was  very  proud  of  his  city, 
and  of  his  country,  and  he  had  ample  cause  to  be. 

The  Man,  Ezekiel,  in  the  City  of  Jerusalem  saw 
all  this  prosperity  come  to  naught.  The  people  were, 
as  time  went  on,  less  and  less  in  earnest  about  the 
worship  of  God  and  there  came  a  falling  away  from 
moral  and  religious  things.  Only  the  shell  of  religion 
remained — the  old  spirituality  had  departed.  King 
Josiah’s  head  was  turned,  by  the  outward  prosper¬ 
ity,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  long  reign  of  thirty-one 
years.  He  was  infected  by  the  military  spirit  which 
animated  the  big  nations  that  were  about  him.  A 
small  king  of  a  small  nation  he  dared  to  meddle  in 
the  quarrel  of  big  kings  of  big  nations.  He  sadly 

9i 


g2  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

misjudged  events.  He  went  up  against  the  King 
of  Egypt,  Pharaoh  Necho,  as  he  went  to  battle  with 
the  King  of  Assyria.  Josiah  was  defeated,  after 
being  warned  to  turn  back,  and  slain  at  the  battle 
of  Megiddo.  Jerusalem  fell  to  the  Egyptians  and  all 
things  began  to  go  from  bad  to  worse.  The  won¬ 
derful  glory  of  city  and  nation  rapidly  faded  away. 
Again  Egypt,  waning  in  power,  fell  before  Babylon 
and  Jerusalem  went  with  Egypt  as  a  minor  prize. 

The  Captive,  Ezekiel,  on  His  Way  to  Babylon. 
— He  is  now  about  twenty-five  years  of  age.  Jeru¬ 
salem  could  not  or  would  not  remain  quiet.  Her 
continued  agitation  against  Babylon  brought  upon 
her  renewed  punishment.  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of 
Babylon,  in  597  b.  c.  came  up  against  the  city  and 
carried  away  all  the  treasures  of  the  city  and  the 
temple,  the  court,  its  officers  and  the  craftsmen,  leav¬ 
ing  only  the  poorer  people.  In  all  about  10,000  cap¬ 
tives  were  taken — Ezekiel  was  of  this  number— to 
Babylon.  It  was  a  long  and  weary  journey,  on  foot, 
of  hundreds  of  miles.  This  was  the  first  captivity. 
The  second  in  586  was  worse  in  that  the  walls  of  the 
city  were  razed  and  the  temple  torn  down. 

The  Questions  Raised  in  the  Minds  of  Ezekiel 
and  His  Fellow  Captives  were  not  easy  to  answer. 
As  they  walked  by  day,  on  the  way  to  Babylon,  and 
sat  by  the  camp  fires  at  night  talking  things  over 
there  were  many  things  which  sorely  puzzled  them. 
The  trend  of  affairs  was  all  too  plain.  The  doom  of 
the  city  and  nation  seemed  fixed  beyond  the  shadow 
of  a  doubt;  they  were  but  enacting  the  events  of 
the  first  chapter.  They  reviewed  the  story  of  Abra- 


Ezekiel 


93 


ham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  and  of  Moses  and  Joshua. 
They  spoke  of  the  glorious  reign  of  King  David. 
They  spoke  of  all  the  splendid  promises  that  had  been 
made  to  them.  “  And  this ;  and  this  is  the  end ;  cap¬ 
tivity  to  a  nation  which  despises  and  scorns  our 
God  and  our  religion !  ”  they  said.  Their  mourning 
and  regret,  however,  seemed  all  to  be  for  the  ma¬ 
terial  prosperity,  which,  for  them,  had  passed  away. 
There  were  some  who  were  openly  rebellious  and 
denounced  their  God  and  their  faith  in  Him.  Others 
were  of  sad  countenance  and  kept  still.  Here  and 
there  were  men  and  women  who  declared  that  faith 
in  God  was  an  affair  of  the  heart  and  not  of  the 
rise  or  fall  of  national  life  or  any  temple  building — 
no  matter  how  ornate. 

The  Call  to  Prophesy  did  not  come  to  Ezekiel 
until  five  years  after  he  had  been  settled,  as  a  captive 
by  the  river  of  Chebar,  not  so  very  far  from  Baby¬ 
lon.  The  condition  of  captivity  was  not  hard.  The 
people  were  allowed  to  do  business ;  to  acquire  land ; 
to  marry.  They  were  more  like  colonists.  Still  they 
were  in  exile — they  were  far  from  home  and  no  en¬ 
forced  detention  is  easy  to  bear.  The  same  questions 
debated  on  the  exile  journey  were  still  up  only  in  a 
more  intensified  form  as  the  years  went  by.  Then 
suddenly  the  explanations — the  answers  of  the  en¬ 
forced  exile — began  to  come.  This  call  was  very  real 
to  Ezekiel — chapter  1.  He  says — “  As  I  was  among 
the  captives  by  the  river  Chebar  the  heavens  were 
opened  and  I  saw  visions  of  God.” 

The  hook  in  which  the  prophecies  are  written 
and  visions  set  forth ,  consists  of  three  parts: 


94  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

First,  chapters  1-24,  Predictions  of  the  fall  of  Jeru¬ 
salem.  It  is  now  made  plain  to  Ezekiel  that  the 
downfall  of  this  city  is  not  due  to  any  lack  of  God’s 
keeping  His  promises  but  through  the  sins  of  the 
people.  He  has  the  same  message  as  Jeremiah  here. 
Second,  chapters  25-32,  Predictions  in  regard  to 
seven  foreign  nations— Ammon,  Moab,  Edom, 
Philistia,  Tyre,  Sidon  and  Egypt.  God  is  not  only 
the  God  of  Israel  but  of  all  nations.  The  same  fate, 
for  their  sins,  will  overtake  them.  Third,  chapters 
33-48,  The  restoration  of  Israel.  There  is  no  restora¬ 
tion  for  other  nations.  There  4s  an  ideal  return  to 
the  land,  an  ideal  temple  built,  etc.  They  who  try 
to  press  too  closely  these  prophecies  miss  the  spir¬ 
itual  significance  of  them. 

Among  the  places  where  Ezekiel  made  known  his 
prophecies  was  his  own  house — where  he  met  the 
elders — 3 :  24 ;  8:1;  12:3;  14:1;  20:1. 

Great  and  New  Ideas  and  Ideals — First  (Ch.  1) 
— God  is  holy,  pure,  righteous  and  just.  That  truth 
had  been  emphasized  before  Ezekiel.  Here  new  light 
is  shed  upon  it,  in  other  chapters  than  the  first,  from 
the  fact  brought  out  that  the  tabernacle,  with  its 
priests  and  sacrifices,  is  not  absolutely  essential  to  its 
proper  appreciation.  God  can  make  Himself  known 
to  the  individual  heart,  and  His  glory  shown  without 
external  aids.  His  holiness,  purity  and  justice  are 
not  austere  and  hard — here  a  new  note  is  struck — 
for  He  takes  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked — 
chapter  33:11.  How  revolutionary  these  new  ideas 
were  we,  in  our  age,  can  scarcely  conceive.  Second 
— Individualism,  or  individual  responsibility  for  one’s 


Ezekiel 


95 


own  deeds.  “  The  soul  that  sinneth — it,  and  no  other 
soul,  shall  die.”  Here  a  man  is  no  longer  bound  up 
with  a  nation  or  national  life  but  stands  or  falls  upon 
what  he  is  in  his  own  heart.  See  chapters  18:4ff. 
and  33 : lOff.  Third — The  community  of  God  is 
“  the  community  of  saved  and  worshipping  souls 
drawn  to  each  other  because  drawn  to  their  common 
Lord.  This  is  the  real  significance  of  the  last  nine 
chapters,  with  their  elaborate  description  of  city  and 
temple.  Institutions  are  not  everything  but  they  are 
something  ...  if  men  are  to  live  and  worship  in 
concert.”  But  the  life  is  not  in  the  institution  but  in 
the  hearts  of  the  individuals  who  set  up  and  support 
the  institution.  Fourth — The  terrible  power  of  sin 
to  mar  and  destroy.  This  has  been  shown  in  the 
overthrow  of  Judah. 

Hence  we  see  in  “  The  Exile  ”  the  rise  of  the 
synagogue  where  there  were  no  sacrifices  but  free 
worship  of  God  with  free  speech  in  regard  to  the 
things  of  God. 

A  New  Epoch  Came  in  with  Ezekiel. — Old 

things  passed  away.  He,  himself,  came  closely  into 
contact  with  God.  Ritualistic  worship,  as  in  the 
temple,  was  no  good  unless  the  individual  soul 
through  it  came  to  see  God.  This  is  the  truth  which 
he  argues  over  and  over  again.  Some  have  declared 
that  he  puts  this  truth  too  bluntly  but  it  was  a  truth 
by  which  he  lived  and  wanted  others  to  live.  He 
saw  and  believed  in  God,  by  the  direct  method  him¬ 
self,  and  he  wanted  others  to  have  the  joy  he  had  in 
doing  this. 

He  no  longer  looks  back  with  regret  to  the  things 


Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


of  the  past.  He  looks  forward,  with  a  great  and 
increasing  joy. 

Visions.— To  attempt  to  interpret  them  would 
take  more  space  than  this  study  affords.  No  method 
of  interpretation  is  without  its  difficulties  while  the 
meaning  is  not  far  to  seek.  Between  the  visions 
here  and  the  book  of  Revelation  there  is  a  strong 
resemblance;  the  throne  of  God,  the  rainbow  that 
encircles  it  and  the  four  living  creatures  that  attend. 
We  have  the  same  figure  of  wicked  Babylon.  There 
is  a  judgment  of  the  nations.  We  have  here  a  temple 
and  there  a  city,  both  foursquare  and  measured  with 
a  reed;  neither  has  yet  been  realized.  Ezekiel  and 
John  were  lifted  up  to  see  the  greatness  of  God  in 
time  to  come.  Here  is  a  conflict  between  sin  and  evil 
but  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  final  victory  of  those 
who  trust  in  God.  Ezekiel  looks  further  than  the 
end  of  the  captivity;  he  looks  to  the  end,  as  John 
does,  of  all  things— -chapters  7  and  26 — and  it  is 
often  difficult  to  tell  which  is  meant. 

For  the  Accomplishment  of  Any  Important  Task 
There  Must  Be  a  Man  of  Great  Visions.— Other¬ 
wise  there  will  be  very  little  done.  The  architect 
must  have  quite  fully  in  mind  his  plan  of  a  sky¬ 
scraper  or  cathedral,  or  the  building,  which  he  wishes 
to  erect,  before  he  goes  to  his  drawing-board.  The 
artist  visualizes  his  painting  before  he  takes  up  his 
brush ;  he  knows  in  advance,  in  vision,  what  he  wants 
to  do.  The  inventor  does  not  start  out  to  simply  in¬ 
vent  something™ he  does  not  know  what—he  knows 
what  he  is  looking  for  before  he  begins  to  try  to 
find  it.  The  hard-headed  business  man  is  a  visionary 


Ezekiel 


97 


of  the  largest  sort,  if  he  is  any  good,  for  he  sees 
ships  on  shipless  seas ;  he  sees  tunnels  through  moun¬ 
tains  where  none  exist ;  he  sees  irrigated  farms  where 
no  farms  are;  he  sees  trade — where  now  is  no  trade 
— coming  from  far  to  enrich  his  bank  account.  Why, 
because  he  must  see,  in  vision,  before  he  can  get 
at  the  reality.  Every  great  patriot  has  seen  in  vision 
that  which  he  wanted  to  make  real  for  his  country. 

Ezekiel  saw  in  his  visions  that  which  he 
wanted  really  to  come  to  pass.  Some  of  these  things 
have  come  to  pass ;  some  remain  to  be  fulfilled. 

By  his  visions  he  comforted ,  he  instructed,  he 
encouraged,  he  inspired  and  led  to  higher  things  his 
people  when  their  spirit  was  ready  to  die  within 
them.  Ezekiel's  visions  can  do  the  same  for  us.  No 
man  can  have  any  satisfaction  in  life  unless  he  is  led 
by  the  vision  of  a  brighter  future  which  he  hopes  to 
make  real. 

Questions. — Give  the  experiences  of  the  boy,  the 
man  and  the  captive,  Ezekiel.  What  were  the  ques¬ 
tions  raised  in  the  minds  of  Ezekiel  and  his  fellow 
captives?  Give  an  account  of  the  call  of  Ezekiel 
and  the  divisions  of  his  book.  Give  an  account  of 
the  four  new  ideas  and  ideals.  What  can  be  said 
about  the  new  epoch  that  came  in  with  Ezekiel? 
What  about  his  visions?  Why,  for  the  accomplish¬ 
ment  of  any  important  task,  must  there  be  a  man 
with  visions?  What  did  Ezekiel  do  with  his  visions 
for  his  people  ? 


XIV 


DANIEL 

THE  MAN  WHO  MADE  ADVANTAGE  OUT 
OF  DISADVANTAGE 

What  Advantage  Can  There  Be  in  Disadvan¬ 
tage?— Troubles,  cares,  perplexities  and  anxieties 
are  continually  forcing  themselves  upon  our  atten¬ 
tion.  We  do  not  have  to  look  for  them;  they  hunt 
us.  No  matter  where  or  how  we  try  to  hide;  they 
find  us.  The  practical  question,  ever  before  us,  is — 
How  shall  we  deal  with  them?  Run  from  them? 
They  can  run  faster  than  we  can.  Fight  them? 
They  are  stronger  than  we  are  and  can  get  the  better 
of  us.  Lie  down?  Then  they  delight  in  tramping 
upon  us;  they  show  us  no  mercy.  We  deal  in  this 
study  with  a  man  who  had  a  new  method  of  dealing 
with  his  troubles.  He  sought  and  found  an  ad¬ 
vantage  in  every  disadvantage  and  he  made  it  serve 
to  lift  him  up  to  higher  things. 

The  Teaching  of  the  Book  of  Daniel,  taken  as  a 
book,  shows  how  God  turns  what  seem  to  men  to 
be  defeats  for  Him,  into  His  honour  and  glory.  We 
do  not  here  enter  into  the  questions  of  the  time  of 
writing  this  book,  the  interpretations  of  the  visions 
or  the  historical  difficulties.  They  are  many.  They 
are  great.  They  are  important.  They  are  interest¬ 
ing.  But  they  are  aside  from  our  present  purpose. 

98 


Daniel 


99 


First — The  supremacy  of  God  over  all  men  and 
ail  nations.  We  see  here  mighty  kings  and  na¬ 
tions  usurping  power  over  the  earth  and  shoul¬ 
dering  aside  God’s  rule  as  they  do  now,  only,  in  the 
end,  to  be  made  to  serve  His  purpose.  Take  the  sec¬ 
ond  chapter — “  The  Dream  of  Great  Empires.” 
Here  are  earth  rulers  seemingly  governing  the  world 
to  the  disadvantage  of  “  The  Kingdom  of  God  ”  yet 
at  the  last — 2 :  34-46 — made  of  advantage  in  bringing 
in  “  The  Universal  Messianic  Kingdom.”  In  every 
chapter  we  see  advantage  turned  to  disadvantage. 
Take  the  third  chapter.  It  seemed  a  great  pity  that 
“  The  Three  Hebrew  Children  ”  should  be  cast  into 
a  fiery  furnace,  for  their  faith,  yet  notice  how  it 
turned  out  in  the  proclamation  of  the  king  for  the 
worship  of  their  God  throughout  His  empire. 

Second — Comfort  to  the  captive  “  Chosen  People" 
that  their  captivity  would  turn  to  their  glory,  as  it 
did. 

The  Two  Parts. — This  book  consists  of  two  parts 
— Part  one,  chapter  1,  Daniel  and  three  youths  taken 
into  captivity;  chapter  2,  The  dream  of  great  em¬ 
pires;  chapter  3,  The  fiery  furnace  and  the  faithful 
three;  chapter  4,  The  great  tree  and  the  stricken 
king;  chapter  5,  The  impious  feast  of  a  Babylonian 
king  in  which  he  seeks  to  set  God  at  a  disadvantage 
— verse  3 — only  to  have  his  kingdom  taken  from  him; 
chapter  6,  Daniel  is  thrown  to  the  lions  for  his  faith, 
only  to  be  rescued  and  have  greater  honour. 

Part  two,  chapter  7,  Vision  of  the  four  beasts; 
chapter  8,  The  ram  and  the  he-goat;  chapter  9,  The 
seventy  weeks ;  chapters  10-12,  The  last  vision.  “  It 


loo  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


is  here  taught,  right  out  in  the  open,  that  this  su¬ 
preme  God  of  the  earth  removes  kings  and  sets  up 
kings  and  that  no  king  can  have  any  power,  strength 
or  glory  unless  it  is  given  to  him  from  above.”  The 
coming  of  a  Messianic  King  who  shall  set  up  a 
world-wide  kingdom— to  supersede  all  others — is 
foretold. 

The  Person  of  Daniel. — Picture  him.  Read  the 
specifications,  up  to  which  he  had  to  measure,  given 
by  the  king.  One  of  the  “  Children  in  whom  was  no 
blemish  but  well  favoured  and  skilful  in  all  wisdom, 
and  cunning  in  knowledge,  and  understanding 
science,  and  such  as  had  ability  in  them  to  stand  in 
the  king’s  palace,  and  whom  they  might  teach  the 
learning  and  tongue  of  the  Chaldeans.”  Such  were 
the  instructions  given  by  Nebuchadnezzar  to  Ash- 
penaz,  the  master  of  his  eunuchs,  so  the  story  reads, 
when  he  gave  instructions  that  certain  of  the  young 
men  of  the  captives  from  Jerusalem,  about  597  b.  c., 
should  be  selected — chapter  1 :  3,  4 — for  service  in 
his  palace.  Daniel  must  have  been  a  man  of  fine 
appearance,  grace  of  manners  and  splendid  ability. 

Outward  Advantages. — They  seemed  many. 
Life  in  an  oriental  palace  where  every  wish  could  be 
gratified.  An  education  in  all  that  the  Chaldeans 
could  teach  and  their  learning  was  not  small.  An 
opportunity,  if  rightly  taken,  to  rise  to  high  office. 
A  chance  to  become  rich,  beyond  the  dreams  of 
avarice.  A  throng  of  obsequious  servants.  But,  to 
the  human  outlook,  and  Daniel  must  have  thought 
deeply  on  this  matter,  one  must  bow  to  the  evil  cus¬ 
toms  of  an  oriental  court  and  must  worship  the  gods 


Daniel 


101 


that,  from  his  childhood,  he  had  been  taught  were  no 
gods.  He  must  renounce  his  religion.  Was  he  pre¬ 
pared  to  give  up  all  that  had  been  taught  him  about 
the  only  Great  and  True  God  of  his  fathers?  Here 
was  the  puzzle. 

It  is  a  modern,  perplexing,  every-day  question  to 
many  a  young  man.  What  shall  he  do  when  asked 
to  do  things  which  are  against  his  principles  in  order 
to  stay  in  a  certain  company  or  go  in  society  that  has 
no  use  for  his  God?  See  how  Daniel  answered  it. 

The  Disadvantages  of  Daniel's  Position  soon 
manifested  themselves.  To  a  young  man  of  his 
bringing  up  and  his  faith  they  were  bound  to  appear 
very  quickly — and  they  did.  The  temptations  of  a 
luxurious  life  are  often  more  subtle  and  stronger 
than  in  one  of  hard  work  and  poverty.  Pride,  ar¬ 
rogance,  selfishness,  jealousy,  hatred  and  meanness 
wait  upon  a  life  lived  in  luxury,  without  a  noble 
thought  or  aim. 

Advantage  Out  of  Disadvantage. — Rich  food. 
Daniel  soon  saw  that  the  food  served  from  the  king's 
table  was  a  positive  detriment  to  him  and  his  com¬ 
panions.  He  knew  that  to  refuse  it  would  bring  him 
into  disrepute — 1:8-21.  Why  not  conform?  Why 
not  do  as  others  did?  Why  make  a  fuss?  These 
are  the  questions  which  come  to  those  who  feel  the 
disadvantage  of  doing  what  they  ought  not  to  do. 
Note  the  way  in  which  Daniel  got  this  food  question 
settled  and  the  good  that  came  out  of  this  trouble. 

The  worship  of  the  one  true  God  for  Daniel’s  com¬ 
panions.  The  fact  that  they  did  not  worship  the 
Babylonian  idols  could  not  remain  under  cover  long. 


102  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


It  redounded  to  their  disadvantage.  They  were 
summoned  before  the  king — chapter  3 — and  thrown 
into  a  fiery  furnace.  Yet  the  fact  that  they  remained 
unhurt  caused  the  king  to  make  a  decree  that  lifted 
them  to  great  honour.  Again  out  of  disadvantage 
came  great  advantage. 

Daniel’s  worship  of  his  God  to  the  neglect  of  the 
Persian  deities — chapter  6 — when  he  passed  to  the 
Persian  Court  from  the  Babylonian  was  soon  no¬ 
ticed.  The  jealous  courtiers,  ever  eager  to  find  some¬ 
thing  against  one  so  eminent  soon  noticed  this  and 
determined  to  bring  about  his  downfall  through  it. 
Here  is  a  case  not  uncommon  in  its  likeness  to  every¬ 
day  life.  A  man  sticking  closely  to  his  principles 
may,  for  them,  be  put  at  a  disadvantage.  Now’  when 
Daniel  knew  of  the  plot  against  him  to  make  him 
renounce  his  worship  of  his  God  under  penalty  of 
being  thrown  to  the  Hons  he  paid  no  attention  to  it. 
Surely  now  this  worship  was  a  disadvantage.  But 
Daniel  when  he  went  to  pray  did  not  even  take  the 
trouble  to  dose  his  window.  He  was  thrown  into 
the  lion’s  den  but  came  out  of  it  unharmed.  Result 
— the  exaltation  of  Daniel  and  great  gain  to  the  cause 
of  the  God  whom  he  served  and  loved.  We  might 
take  every  incident  in  Daniel’s  life  and  find  that  he 
ever  held  a  steady  course  in  his  belief  and  deeds  and 
saw  in  everything  the  advantage  that  could  come  out 
of  disadvantage. 

Characteristics  of  Daniel. — First — Rock-bed  con¬ 
victions  of  what  he  ought  and  ought  not  to  do. 
There  are  those  who  believe  strongly  but  they  have 
no  convictions.  Second — Willingness  to  take  the 


Daniel 


103 


consequences  of  his  belief.  Third — Determination 
to  see  the  thing  through  to  the  end — whatever  that 
end  might  be.  Fourth — Hopefulness  of  the  bright¬ 
est  and  most  cheerful  kind.  Fifth — Restfulness 
upon  his  God  that  He  would  see  him  through.  We 
note  an  absence  of  worry  in  Daniel  that  is  remark¬ 
able. 

Daniel  was  no  coddled  saint  but  a  stalwart  one 
to  whom  persecution  came  only  to  make  him  of  more 
use. 

“  This  sort  of  character  is  the  goal  to  which  God 
will  push  us,  even  over  rough  roads  if  He  must.  The 
goal  justifies  both  His  wisdom  and  the  roads.” 

Questions. — What  advantage  in  disadvantage? 
What  is  the  teaching  in  the  book  of  Daniel?  What 
can  be  said  of  the  person  of  Daniel?  What  were 
his  outward  advantages?  What  were  the  disadvan¬ 
tages?  What  advantages  came  out  of  the  disadvan¬ 
tages  of  Daniel’s  position?  Give  the  characteristics 
of  Daniel. 


XV 


HABAKKUK 

THE  MAN  WHO  QUESTIONED  GOD’S 
WORED  POEICIES 

Questioning  God. — This  might  stand  for  the  title 
of  the  book  of  Habakkuk.  The  prophet  is  very  bold. 
He  uses  strong  language — 1 : 1-4.  He  says — “  The 
burden  which  Habakkuk  the  prophet  did  see.  O 
Lord,  how  long  shall  I  cry  and  thou  wilt  not  hear! 
even  cry  unto  thee  of  violence  and  thou  wilt  not 
save?  Why  dost  thou  show  me  iniquity,  and  cause 
me  to  behold  grievance?  For  spoiling  and  violence 
are  before  me:  and  there  are  that  raise  up  strife 
and  contention.”  This  is  not  the  cry  of  an  irreverent 
but  a  reverent  man  who  sees  evil  and  wrong  and 
iniquity  flourishing  and,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  made 
to  check  them,  growing  and  increasing.  Men  see  the 
best  and  most  ably  planned  campaigns  against  giant 
wrongs  and  evil  men,  sitting  in  the  places  of  power, 
come  to  naught.  This  is  a  cry  that  goes  up  in  our 
age,  as  it  did  in  that  long  past  time.  Where  is  God 
that  He  does  not  do  something? 

The  Problem  of  Habakkuk  is  the  same  as  that  of 
Job.  Read  what  this  “  Man  of  Undeserved  Suffer¬ 
ing  ”  says  about  the  evils  which  have  befallen  him 
and  for  which  he  can  find  no  human  explanation. 
The  difference  is,  however,  that  with  Job  the  prob- 

104 


Habakkuk 


10  5 

lem  is  personal;  here  it  widens  out  into  social  and 
national  evils,  which  go  on  unchecked. 

Jeremiah  who  had  an  evil  nation  to  prophesy 
against,  in  Judah,  sees  his  nation  punished  for  its 
sin  by  the  Chaldeans.  But  Habakkuk  is  not  satisfied 
with  the  fact  that  his  nation  will  get  what  it  deserves 
at  the  hands  of  the  Chaldeans.  He  wants  to  know 
why  it  is  that  a  wicked  nation  is  selected  to  punish 
another  wicked  nation  and  what  is  to  become  of  the 
big  evil  nation  when  it  has  conquered  the  little  one. 
Will  God  let  the  Chaldeans  go  unpunished  for  all 
their  wrongs,  which  are  a  multitude?  It  is  a  world 
problem.  God  is  questioned  in  regard  to  His  govern¬ 
ment  of  the  world. 

The  Man  and  the  Prophet. — We  know  little 
about  Habakkuk  save  that  he  was  a  man  of  deep 
religious  convictions  and  statesman-like  mind.  He 
lived  in  Jerusalem  and  had  some  connection  with 
the  temple — and  “  the  Temple  Choir  ” — chapter 
3  : 19.  He  had  the  office  of  prophet — 1 : 1 — and  was 
the  eighth  of  the  minor  prophets. 

His  environment  was  not  a  happy  one.  It  is 
generally  thought  that  he  prophesied  about  600  b.  c. 
In  his  day  he  had  seen  “  A  World  War.”  Great 
nations  were  contending  for  the  mastery.  Egypt  and 
Assyria ;  then  Babylon  and  Assyria.  He  had  seen  the 
dreaded  Chaldean  override  both  Assyria  and  Egypt. 
He  saw  that  soon,  as  it  came  to  pass,  the  Chal¬ 
deans  would  destroy  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  He  was 
in  the  midst  of  great  world  movements. 

At  home ,  in  Jerusalem,  he  saw  King  Jehoiakim 
playing  the  fool.  When  taxes  were  high  and  the 


lo6  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


people  oppressed,  Jehoiakim  indulged  in  selfish  and 
lavish  personal  expenditures.  He  built  a  splendid 
palace  with  forced  and  unpaid  labour.  Religion  was 
at  a  low  ebb.  Iniquities,  of  the  most  flagrant  kind, 
flourished  unchecked.  He  saw  his  beloved  city  and 
nation  headed  straight  for  destruction.  He  could 
see  no  hope  in  any  of  the  great  nations — they  were 
worse  than  his  own. 

He  was  puzzled  and  disheartened  at  the  state  of 
things.  His  human  nature  asserted  itself  and  led  to 
the  outcry  in  chapter  1 : 1-4. 

The  Solutions  Offered  for  the  Problem. — The 
book,  of  three  chapters,  opens  with  a  dialogue  be¬ 
tween  Habakkuk  and  God  on  “  The  World  Policies 
of  God  ”  and  the  delayed  punishment  of  evil.  God 
is  reverently  challenged  to  show  cause  why  “  the  law 
is  slacked  and  judgment  does  not  go  forth  ?  ” 

First  Question—- Ch.  1 : 1-4.  The  local  question 
of  Judah’s  punishment  for  her  sins  is  considered. 
Why  it  delays?  The  prophet  asks. 

First  Answer — Ch.  1 :  5-11.  God  replies.  The 
Chaldeans  are  raised  up  and  will  take  care  of  Judah. 
This  is  sure  to  come  to  pass,  as  it  did.  The  punish¬ 
ment  will  be  severe. 

Second  Question — Ch.  1 : 12-17.  Jeremiah,  in 
his  book,  was  satisfied  with  this  first  answer  but  not 
so  Habakkuk.  He  was  not  at  all  pleased,  tie  does 
not  consider  that  it  goes  far  enough.  Notice  now 
that  the  discussion  goes  out  of  personal,  social  and 
national  and  into  international  and  world  policies. 
Habakkuk  wants  to  know  how  God  is  going  to  justify 
His  world  policies  in  raising  up  and  using  a  wicked 


Habakkuk 


107 


nation  for  punishment  of  others*  What  gain  is  there 
in  this  ?  He  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Chal¬ 
deans  are  wanton  in  their  punishment  and  that  they 
continually  gather  the  nations  into  their  net,  empty 
it,  gather  again  and  worship  their  net. 

Habakkuk  now  declares  that  he  stands  upon  his 
watch-tower  to  see  how  God  will  answer— 2 : 1. 

Second  Answer— 2 : 3-20.  God,  in  this  answer, 
enters  into  the  principles  of  “  Divine  Government 
and  Dealing  Justly  and  Righteously  with  Men  and 
Nations.”  The  answer  is  given  in  the  form  of  a 
vision  which  needs  to  be  carefully  studied. 

The  time  element — 2 :  3 — enters  into  all  God’s 
judgments.  He  cannot  be  hurried.  Habakkuk  need 
not  worry  for  no  wrong  shall  go  unpunished. 
“  Though  it  tarry,  wait  for  it ;  because  it  will  surely 
come.” 

The  underlying  principles  of  God  are  that  the 
righteous  have  the  seeds  of  life  in  themselves — chap¬ 
ter  2:4 — “  The  just  shall  live  by  faith.”  (Notice 
how  this  is  used  in  the  New  Testament — Romans 
1:17;  Galatians  3:11;  Hebrews  10 :  38.)  The  evil 
man  and  nation  have  the  seeds  of  death,  like  deadly 
germ  diseases,  in  themselves  which  will  destroy 
them.  These  diseases,  their  cause  and  manifestation 
are  put  in  the  form  of  five  “  Woes.”  Because  a  man 
and  nation  trangress  these  diseases  or  “  Woes  ”  shall 
come  upon  them — 2 : 6,  9,  12,  15  and  19.  This  is  a 
most  illuminating  explanation.  We  can  see  now 
what  Habakkuk  could  not  see.  The  great  Chaldean 
empire  had  the  seeds  of  death  in  it  and  it  has  utterly 
vanished  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 


io8  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


A  prayer  of  Habakkuk — Ch.  3 : 1,  2.  He  bows 
his  head  before  God’s  wisdom  in  His  world  policies. 

The  vision  of  God's  glory — 3 :  3-16 — which  the 
prophet  describes.  He  sees  the  might  and  glory  of 
God  and  that  He  is  in  full  control.  This  is  a  lyric 
poem  of  great  beauty.  Just  one  or  two  extracts — 
3 :  3 — “  His  glory  covered  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
was  full  of  his  praise/’  Chapter  3:6,“  He  stood  and 
measured  the  earth:  he  beheld  and  drove  asunder 
the  nations ;  and  the  everlasting  mountains  were  scat¬ 
tered,  the  perpetual  hills  did  bow :  his  ways  are  ever¬ 
lasting.” 

The  Conclusion  of  the  Whole  Matter — Ch.  3:17- 
19.  Habakkuk  is  so  well  satisfied  with  the  an¬ 
swers  that  have  been  given  to  him  that  he  feels 
that  he  now  can  stand  and  face  the  evils  of  his  time 
and  age  and  not  be  daunted  by  them.  It  is  this  at¬ 
titude,  after  all,  that  counts.  Human  life  is  but  a 
half-told  tale.  We  are  moved  so  often  by  outside 
forces  of  which  we  cannot  even  guess  the  origin. 
We  are  caught  in  whirlpools  and  eddies  and  cannot 
make  headway.  We  know  so  little  after  all  of  life 
that  we  want  to  know  just  as  far  as  we  can  know 
that,  above  all,  is  “  a  Great,  a  Good  and  a  Righteous 
God  ”  who  is  perfectly  capable  of  taking  care  of 
everything  and  will  take  care  of  us.  He  will  see 
that  all  wrongs  are  righted. 

The  prophet  is  so  thoroughly  convinced  of 
this  that  he  concludes  with  these  words — “  Although 
the  fig  tree  shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in 
the  vines ;  the  labour  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the 
fields  shall  yield  no  meat;  and  the  flock  shall  be  cut 


Habakkuk 


109 


off  from  the  fold,  and  there  shall  be  no  herd  in  the 
stalls:  yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the 
God  of  my  salvation.  The  Lord  God  is  my  strength, 
and  he  will  make  my  feet  like  hinds’  feet,  and  he 
will  make  me  to  walk  upon  mine  high  places.” 

Questions. — What  can  be  said  about  questioning 
God— what  was  the  burden  of  Habakkuk?  What  was 
the  problem  of  Habakkuk — how  did  it  differ  from 
that  of  Job?  What  can  be  said  about  the  man  and 
the  prophet — his  environment  and  what  he  was  puz¬ 
zled  about?  What  solutions  were  offered  for  the 
problem — the  first  question — the  first  answer — the 
second  question — the  second  answer — the  prayer  of 
Habakkuk — the  vision  of  God’s  glory — the  conclusion 
of  the  whole  matter  ? 


XVI 


MATTHEW 

THE  MAN  WHO  SAW  WORED  HOPES 

REALIZED 

From  Old  Testament  to  New  Testament  Char¬ 
acters. — We  have  an  entire  change  of  scene.  The 
old  stage  is  cleared.  A  new  one  is  set.  The  mighty 
empires  which  fought  for  the  sovereignty  of  the 
world  have  disappeared  or  become  ghosts  of  their 
former  selves.  Babylonia,  Assyria,  Egypt,  Persia, 
and  others,  whose  great  armies  shook  the  earth,  when 
they  marched,  have  gone  down.  Go  now  and  read 
Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  and  the  rest  of  the 
prophets,  and  note  that  this  failure  of  mighty  empires 
is  just  what  they  said  would  take  place.  Note  also 
that  they  said  that,  after  the  captivity,  Jerusalem 
and  the  temple  would  be  rebuilt  in  glory  and  splen¬ 
dour  and  that  Judah  would  be  saved  out  of  the  wreck. 
When  Christ  saw  Jerusalem  all  this  had  come  true. 
He  saw  a  city  of  magnificent  beauty.  There  were 
huge  walls  and  massive  lofty  towers.  There  were 
marble  palaces.  Nothing  has  ever  equalled  the  splen¬ 
did  temple  which  He  saw.  The  streets  are  full  of 
life  and  activity.  The  Jews  enjoy  the  largest  sort 
of  freedom  under  the  Roman  Empire  which  now 
embraces  the  territory  of  all  the  mighty  empires  of 
the  Old  Testament.  They  come  up  to  Jerusalem 

no 


Matthew 


11! 


from  all  parts  of  the  earth,  by  the  scores  of  thou¬ 
sands  at  Passover  Time. 

The  World  Saviour. — The  new  stage  was  set 
for  “  the  Chosen  People  ”  with  their  synagogues 
in  every  big  and  many  small  cities,  to  accept,  make 
known  and  urge  the  acceptance  of  their  own  and  the 
u  World  Saviour  in  Jesus  Christ.”  Here  was  the 
largest  sort  of  an  opportunity  to  become  the  dominant 
race  in  the  propagation  of  the  highest  principles  and 
ideals  of  justice,  truth,  mercy,  love  and  righteous¬ 
ness.  How  they  deliberately  discarded — chapters 
8 : 11,  12 ;  21 :  43 — this  opportunity  is  a  matter  of 
history.  The  prophets  had  proclaimed,  all  of  them, 
“  the  World  Saviour  ”  coming  through  the  Jews. 
But  coming  anyway  even  if  “  the  Chosen  People  ” 
rejected  Him.  This  is  the  common  teaching  of  the 
prophets.  The  Jews  did  reject  Him  and  He  still  re¬ 
mained  “  the  World  Saviour.” 

He  fully  realized  His  world-wide  mission  when 
He  said,  at  the  close  of  His  career  on  earth 
(and  before  this) — “  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all 
nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ” — Matthew 
28 : 19 ;  “  And  he  said  unto  them,  Thus  it  is  written 
and  thus  it  behooved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise 
from  the  dead  the  third  day:  and  that  repentance 
and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name 
among  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem” — Luke 
24:46-48;  “  Ye  shall  be  my  witnesses  unto  me  both 
in  Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judsea,  and  in  Samaria,  and 
unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth  ” — Acts  1 :  8. 
He  was  always  talking,  not  about  the  kingdom  of  the 


1 1 2  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


Jews  but  about  the  “  Kingdom  of  God  ”  and  “  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven.” 

The  Apostle,  Matthew. — Did  he  realize,  at  the 
first,  the  large  mission  to  which  he  was  called?  We 
do  not  know.  He  is  not  here  so  that  we  can  question 
him.  Who  can  tell  how  much  any  man  hopes  for 
when  he  enters  upon  a  new  and  promising  field  of 
work.  The  important  position  which  he  occupied,  on 
a  main  route  of  large  travel,  would  make  him  a 
shrewd  judge  of  men  and  their  values.  He  is  not 
at  all  the  sort  of  man — evidently  of  not  a  little  wealth 
and  much  good  business  sense— who  would  hastily, 
giving  up  all,  follow  Christ,  when  He  called  him. 
Such  a  man  would  not  easily  be  swept  off  his  feet. 
As  a  Jew,  however,  he  must  have  been  acquainted 
with  the  teachings  of  the  prophets  and  been  con¬ 
vinced,  from  seeing  Jesus  often  in  and  about  Caper¬ 
naum  that  He  was  truly  “  the  Promised  Messiah  ” 
of  whom  they  spoke.  In  the  book,  the  Gospel  of 
Matthew,  we  have,  at  first,  constant  references  back 
to  the  prophets  that  this  is  “the  Jewish  Messiah,” 
then  the  tone  changes  and  references  are  evidently 
to  “  the  World  Messiah,”  one  and  the  same,  but  in 
the  second  place  seen  in  His  larger  aspect. 

The  First  World  Center,  Capernaum. — This  is 
the  city  in  which  Matthew  lived,  likewise  Peter, 
James  and  John.  It  is  the  best  of  all  the  cities  on 
Lake  Galilee  whose  shores  are  thickly  studded  with 
well-known  towns  and  villages,  castles,  hippodromes, 
synagogues,  amphitheaters  and  Greek  villas.  There 
are  pleasure  craft,  dispatch  and  fishing  boats  and 
ships  of  war  going  to  and  fro  on  the  surface  of  the 


Matthew 


ll3 


water.  Capernaum,  on  the  northeast  shore,  is  a 
finely  built  city  where  people  of  all  nationalities 
dwell.  It  is  a  station  on  the  great  caravan  trunk 
routes,  east,  west,  north  and  south.  What  is  done 
here  is  quickly  made  known  in  all  the  large  centers 
of  trade.  It  is  thought  to  have  been  chosen  by  Christ 
to  disseminate  His  Gospel,  as  “  the  First  World  Cen¬ 
ter  ”  to  send  out  the  good  news  from  its  advanta¬ 
geous  broadcasting  facilities.  Jerusalem  was  not  on 
the  big  trade  routes.  Beside  Jesus  and  His  claims 
soon  met  with  hostility  there  from  the  priestly  party. 
Matthew,  knowing  his  Capernaum  like  a  book,  would 
be  invaluable  in  the  work  which  Christ  sought  to  do. 

The  Call  of  Matthew  (Ch.  9 :  9)  came  to  him 
while  he  was  attending  to  his  business  as  customs 
officer  at  the  “  Receipt  of  Custom  ”  at  Capernaum 
on  “  the  Great  West  Trunk  Road  from  Damascus 
and  the  Far  East  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea.”  Here 
Jie  would  get  all  the  news  that  was  going. 

Circumstances.  Jesus  had  just  healed  a  man 
sick  of  the  palsy  in  the  city.  Crowds  followed  Him 
as  He  went  on  His  way.  Seeing  Matthew,  at  his 
place  of  business,  He  called  him — “  Follow  me.” 
As  quickly  as  He  called  Matthew  arose  and  fol¬ 
lowed  Him.  The  suddenness  may  appear  more  on 
the  surface  than  in  reality.  Doubtless  Jesus  had  had 
Matthew  under  observation  for  some  time  and 
Matthew  had  been  seeing  the  many  wonderful  things 
which  Jesus  did. 

Qualifications.  To  all  outward  appearances 
Matthew  was  not  a  good  choice  for  he  was  a  hated 
publican — despised  by  all  so-called  “  Good  Jews.” 


114  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

As  one  hated  and  despised  he  would  be  a  hindrance 
rather  than  a  help  but  Jesus  looked  upon  the  splendid 
qualities  of  Matthew  and  upon  his  heart  and  knew 
that  He  had,  in  this  tax-gatherer,  a  rare  man  for  His 
purpose. 

The  Great  Feast  Given  by  Matthew  (Ch.  9:10; 
Luke  5:29). — He  was  not  only  quick  to  respond 
to  the  invitation  of  Jesus  to  follow  Him  but  he 
wanted  every  one  to  know  what  a  signal  honour  had 
been  bestowed.  It  was  not  a  feast  for  a  select  few 
and  choice  friends  but  “  There  was  a  great  company 
of  publicans  and  others  who  sat  down  with  them.” 
Some  men  are  warped  and  twisted  by  their  business. 
Their  worst  side  comes  out  in  their  dealings  with 
men.  Take  Matthew  and  this  feast  and  see  how 
everything  shows  him  as  he  is  and  that  being  “  a 
Despised  Publican  ”  in  business  had  not  touched  the 
nobleness  of  his  soul.  Suppose  that  every  one  whom 
Jesus  calls,  and  who  accepts  this  call  into  His  fel¬ 
lowship  and  Church,  should  respond  as  Matthew  did 
in  celebrating  the  occasion  in  a  way  that  would  make 
his  rejoicing  known  to  all  his  friends?  What 
splendid  progress  would  be  made.  What  is  needed 
to-day  is  Christians  with  the  enthusiasm  of  Mat¬ 
thew. 

Discordant  voices.  Then  as  now  when  a  man 
really  gets  enthusiastic  in  a  good  cause  there  are 
those  who  find  fault.  The  Pharisees  and  Scribes, 
looking  only  on  outward  things,  murmured  against 
this  feast,  given  by  Matthew,  that  Christ  and  His 
disciples  should  attend  and  eat  with  publicans  and 
sinners.  It  is  the  same  old  world.  There  are  those 


Matthew 


“5 

who  do  nothing  to  help  on  a  good  cause  and  find 
fault  with  those  who  do. 

Matthew  in  the  Training  School. — From  the  time 
of  his  call  until  Jesus  ascended — Acts  1:1-8 — 
Matthew  was  constantly  with  Jesus. 

He  learned  the  principles  of  the  kingdom  from 
“  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  ” — chapters  5-7.  1 — 

chapter  5 :  2-12,  The  righteousness  of  “  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  ”  described ;  its  rewards  announced.  2 — 
chapter  5 : 13-16,  The  righteousness  as  exhibited  in 
life.  3 — chapters  5 : 17-6 : 18,  Relation  of  this  new 
righteousness  to  that  of  the  Old  Testament.  4 — 
chapter  6 : 19-34,  Relation  of  this  new  righteousness 
to  secular  life.  5 — chapter  7 : 1-23,  Teaching  of  the 
new  righteousness;  precepts  and  warnings  to  disci¬ 
ples.  6 — chapter  7 :  24-27,  Consequences  of  the  ac¬ 
ceptance  or  rejection  of  the  precepts  of  the  new 
righteousness. 

He  was  sent  out  to  work  out  that  which  he  had 
been  taught  by  Jesus — chapters  10 : 1-11 : 1. 
Matthew  was  one  of  “  the  Twelve  ”  sent  out  to  pro¬ 
claim  “  the  Good  News  of  the  Coming  Kingdom.” 
They  were  to  do  as  they  had  seen  Christ  do. 

Nothing  was  left  to  chance.  The  apostles  were 
men  under  the  tutelage  of  the  Master  to  carry  on 
His  work  after  He  had  left  the  earth. 

Matthew  Saw  World  Hopes  Realized  in  Jesus 
Christ;  that  is,  he  began  to  see  them  realized. 
They  are  not  yet  fully  realized.  The  movement  is 
so  large  that  it  will  take  the  ages  for  their  com¬ 
plete  fulfillment. 

Take  “the  Gospel  of  Matthew”  (under  the  most 


1 16  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


drastic  criticism  the  bulk  of  its  material  is  still  con¬ 
ceded  to  Matthew,  the  apostle).  It  may  be  divided 
into  three  parts:  1 — chapters  1: 1-4: 16,  Early  Days 
of  the  Messiah.  2 — chapters  4: 17-16 :  20,  Signs 
and  Works  of  the  Messiah.  3 — chapters  16 : 21- 
28 : 20,  Passion  of  the  Messiah. 

We  see  here  the  flowering  of  the  Old  Testament 
History.  All  that  the  prophets  had  said  of  Jesus 
Christ  comes  true  in  Him.  Passage  after  passage  is 
quoted  in  Matthew  of  the  Old  Testament  prophecy  to 
prove  that  in  Jesus  Christ  we  have  the  Promised  Mes¬ 
siah.  A  Messiah  who  was  to  bless  the  whole  world 
through  “  the  Chosen  People.”  But  as  time  goes  on 
and  Jesus  Christ  develops  His  principles  and  ideals  the 
nation  to  which  He  has  come  is  seen  to  draw  back 
from  Him  and  finally  to  reject  Him.  The  Christ 
that  was  to  make  this  nation  the  leading  nation  of 
the  world  is  rejected  by  it,  and  with  this  rejection 
forfeits  its  great  mission — chapter  8 : 11,  12. 

The  mission  of  Jesus  Christ  as  “  The  World 
Saviour is  not  thereby  thwarted  but  becomes  more 
emphatically  a  world  affair. 

The  religion  of  Jesus  is  not  merely  the  Juda¬ 
ism  of  the  temple  plus  a  belief  in  Jesus  as  “  the 
Messiah”  but  a  world  religion,  freed  from  all  bounds 
and  restrictions,  local  and  national.  The  book  of 
Matthew  carries  the  doctrine  of  the  apostle  Paul  to 
the  conclusion  which  he  saw  in  it  but  to  which  he  was 
not  wont  himself  to  press  it.  Again  before  this 
time  each  nation  had  its  own  gods  to  whom  it  looked 
for  succour  and  help.  The  conception  of  a  World 
Religion  was  not  thought  of.  When  the  nation  died 


Matthew 


117 


its  gods  died  as  they  did  in  Babylonia  and  Assyria. 
But  here  was  a  World  Messiah  who  survived  the 
nation  to  which  He  was  accredited,  and  appealed  to 
all  nations  and  made  good  in  His  appeal. 

The  World  Messiah  in  Our  Own  Age. — The 
message  of  Matthew  comes  to  us  with  the  same 
pertinency  that  it  came  to  men  of  old.  So  it  will 
come  in  the  future.  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Saviour  of 
all  mankind — to  all  who  trust  in  Him.  All  else  may 
fail  but  He  will  not  fail.  He  will  not  be  judged  by 
any  age  or  civilization  but  will  judge  every  age  and 
every  civilization.  His  last  command  is  still  sound¬ 
ing  forth — “  Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations, 
baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost:  teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you:  and  lo,  I 
am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world  ” 
(Matthew  28: 18-20). 

Questions. — What  can  be  said  for  the  change 
from  Old  to  New  Testament  characters?  What  can 
be  said  of  the  world  Saviour?  What  of  the  world 
apostle,  Matthew?  What  of  the  first  world  center, 
Capernaum?  What  can  be  said  of  the  call  of  Mat¬ 
thew — circumstances  and  qualifications?  What  of 
the  great  feast,  given  by  Matthew?  What  of  Mat¬ 
thew  in  the  training  school?  How  did  Matthew  see 
world  hopes  realized  in  Jesus  Christ?  What  can  be 
said  of  the  world  Messiah  in  our  own  age  ? 


XVII 


MARK 

THE  MAN  WHO  WROTE  OF  CHRISTS  POWER 

A  New  Way  of  Looking  at  Christ. — Mark  pre¬ 
sents  a  different  aspect  of  Christ  from  that  of  Mat¬ 
thew,  Luke,  John  or  Paul.  The  emphasis  is  placed 
upon  what  He  is,  in  Himself,  and  upon  His  authority. 
The  genealogy  is  omitted.  Little  is  said  about  the 
fulfillment  of  Old  Testament  prophecy.  After  the 
announcement-—”  The  beginning  of  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ”  (ch.  1:1),  and  a  few 
verses  about  the  work  of  John  Baptist,  we  read  of 
the  exercised  power  of  the  Christ:  “And  they  were 
astonished  at  his  doctrine  for  he  taught  them  as  one 
that  had  authority  and  not  as  the  scribes”  (dr.  1: 
22).  “And  they  were  all  amazed,  insomuch  that  they 
questioned  among  themselves,  saying,  What  thing  is 
this?  For  with  authority  commandeth  he  the  un¬ 
dean  spirits  and  they  do  obey  him”  (ch.  1:27). 
This  has  been  called  “  The  Gospel  to  the  Romans  ” 
because  Jesus  Christ  was  presented  in  this  way.  The 
Romans  never  asked  about  the  ancestry  of  a  man; 
they  wanted  to  know  what  he  was  in  himself  and 
what  he  could  do.  This  is  the  modern  way  of  look¬ 
ing  at  a  man. 

The  Writer,  Mark. — He  is  not  an  apostle.  He 
holds  no  official  position.  The  Gospel,  however,  has 

nS 


Mark 


119 


been  ascribed  to  him  from  the  earliest  times.  He 
had  ample  opportunity  to  know  the  truth  of  the 
things  about  which  he  wrote.  He  lived  in  Jeru¬ 
salem.  His  mother  had  a  house  there.  She  was  a 
woman  of  considerable  wealth.  Her  home  was  the 
rallying  place  of  the  early  leaders  of  the  Church. 
Here  Mark  met  them  and  heard  everything  talked 
over.  A  large  prayer-meeting  was  in  progress  there, 
one  night,  when  Peter,  having  been  released  from 
prison  by  an  angel,  came  knocking  at  the  door  of 
the  gate.  Mark  could  never  forget  that  experience 
and  the  rejoicing  over  Peter’s  release.  The  narrative 
does  not  say  but  Mark  may  have  often  seen  Jesus  and 
heard  His  words.  His  cousin,  Barnabas,  who  went 
on  the  first  missionary  journey  with  Paul  was  a 
wealthy  Levite  from  the  island  of  Cyprus  (Acts  12: 
1-17;  4:36,  37;  13:1-5).  Who  could  know  better 
than  Mark  of  all  the  things  which  were  making  such 
a  wonderful  stir  in  Jerusalem?  These  things  were 
not  done  in  a  corner. 

The  Traveler. — He  was  in  many  parts  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  We  read  of  him  in  Jerusalem,  in  An¬ 
tioch,  in  Ephesus,  in  Rome  and  in  other  places.  He 
had  a  wide  experience  with  men  in  all  classes  of  life. 
In  his  home  city,  Jerusalem,  he  had  his  eyes  opened 
to  the  wonderful  power  in  Christ.  In  Antioch  he 
saw  how  that  power  could  take  hold  upon  men  and 
women  who  were  not  of  the  household  of  Judaea  and 
had  not  been  trained  in  its  traditions  (Acts  11:20- 
26;  13:1-5).  We  find  Mark  with  Paul  in  Rome 
(Col.  4:10;  Phil.  24)  and  later  on  with  Timothy  in 
Ephesus  (2  Tim.  4:11).  He  is  also  recorded  by 


120  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


Peter  as  being  with  him  in  Babylon  (Rome)  (1  Peter 
d :  13). 

The  Close  Companion  of  Peter  for  ten  or  twelve 
years.  This  is  the  time  that  elapsed  between  the 
last  mention  of  Mark  in  the  Acts  and  Paul’s  refer¬ 
ence  to  his  cooperation  in  Rome.  In  out-of-the-way 
places  in  the  country,  in  villages,  and  in  big  cities 
Mark  had  noticed,  could  not  help  but  notice,  how  the 
marvelous  power  of  Jesus  Christ  gripped  the  hearts 
and  consciences  of  the  people  to  whom  He  was  pre¬ 
sented.  They  accepted  Him  for  what  He  was  in 
Himself.  They  did  not  have  to  go  back  and  get 
Him  through  Judaism.  The  modern  disciple  of 
Christ  makes  this  direct  appeal  to-day. 

The  Ministry  of  Mark  in  Service. — We  do  not 
read  anywhere  of  Mark  speaking  or  taking  the  lead¬ 
ership,  as  Barnabas  or  Paul  or  Peter,  or  Timothy 
did.  He  is  never  at  the  forefront.  His  is  the  min¬ 
istry  of  service,  the  observer  of  what  others  are  do¬ 
ing,  and  making  things  comfortable  for  them  that 
they  may  do  their  more  conspicuous  work  well.  He 
doubtless  arranged  the  travel  routes  and  looked  after 
the  details  of  getting  lodgings  and  places  and  oppor¬ 
tunities  to  deliver  the  message.  The  tradition  tells 
us  that  even  the  message  which  he  has  given  us,  in 
what  is  called  his  Gospel,  is  what  Peter  preached  in 
his  ten  or  twelve  years  of  association  with  him. 

And  yet  how  marvelously  the  light  of  his  life 
shines  forth!  The  man  who  was  willing  to  serve 
those  who  did  the  more  conspicuous  things  now  takes 
rank  alongside  them  and  not  one  whit  behind  them. 
This  Gospel  of  Mark  may  be  what  Peter  preached, 


Mark 


121 


it  doubtless  is,  but  it  is  put  in  shape  by  a  master 
hand.  In  its  present  shape  it  is  declared  to  be  the 
first  of  the  Gospels.  Could  any  man — just  striving 
to  serve  as  his  Master  did — have  greater  honour? 

The  Book  of  Mark  is  put  together  with  great 
skill.  The  story  moves  with  rapidity.  It  is  pic¬ 
turesque.  It  is  condensed.  It  is  abrupt.  After  the 
introduction  1 : 1-13  it  has  three  natural  divisions ; 
1 — The  ministry  in  Galilee,  1 : 14-9  :  50.  2 ■ — The 

ministry  in  Judaea,  10:1-52.  3 — The  ministry  in 

Jerusalem,  11 : 1-16  :  20.  This  is  the  shortest  Gospel 
— sixteen  chapters.  Matthew  has  twenty-eight.  Luke 
twenty- four.  John  twenty-one.  The  narrative  is 
confined  to  the  most  active  period  of  Jesus’  life, 
chiefly  to  the  busy  Galilean  ministry  and  the  still  more 
crowded  Passion  Week. 

Characteristics. — 1 — Vividness.  There  is  a  suc¬ 
cession  of  pictures  of  what  Christ  did  which  have 
peculiar  lifelike  and  graphic  qualities.  We  are  made 
to  see  things,  by  Mark,  as  if  they  were  directly  under 
our  own  eyes.  2 — Compactness.  Every  sentence  is 
fraught  with  meaning.  3 — Directness.  There  is  no 
attempt  at  elaboration.  It  is  a  businesslike  narra¬ 
tive  of  things  as  Mark  saw  them  or  heard  of  them 
from  Peter  and  others.  Christ  teaches  and  heals  and 
immediately  His  fame  spreads  through  all  Galilee 
(Ch.  1:28).  In  the  first  chapter,  typical  of  all  the 
rest,  we  find  condensed  the  stories  of  the  opening  of 
the  ministry  of  Christ,  the  coming  of  John  Baptist, 
the  temptation  of  Christ  and  the  beginning  of  Christ’s 
ministry  in  Galilee.  4 — Celerity.  Here  is  move¬ 
ment  ;  action ;  life.  Christ  speaks  and  there  is  instant 


122  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 


obedience.  The  words — “  Straightway  ”  and  “  Im¬ 
mediately  ”  are  used  over  forty  times  to  show  how 
quickly  the  results,  which  are  desired,  are  accom¬ 
plished.  5 — Circumstantiality.  Mark  tells  “  How 
the  multitude  who  were  to  be  fed  sat  down  in  groups 
like  flower  beds  *  upon  the  green  grass  ’ ;  how  our 
Lord  amid  the  tempest  was  sleeping  ‘  on  the  cushion 9 
in  the  stern  of  the  boat;  how  when  they  brought  unto 
Him  ‘  little  children/  He  took  them  up  in  His  arms 
and  blessed  them.  Only  in  Mark  are  we  told  that 
Jesus  was  a  carpenter  and  that,  during  His  tempta¬ 
tion,  He  was  with  the  wild  beasts.”  The  instances 
of  such  touches  are  legion. 

The  Message  of  Mark  is  the  Working  of  the 
Power  of  Christ  for  helping  men  to  find  themselves 
and  God.  That  they  may  be  freed  from  the  evils 
which  take  them  by  the  throat  and  choke  out  their 
moral  and  spiritual  lives.  It  is  a  ministry  of  redeem¬ 
ing  love  and  saving  grace.  It  is  authority,  coupled 
with  unlimited  power,  used  not  in  selfishness  and  the 
upbuilding  of  the  one  who  has  it  but  for  the  largest 
and  noblest  ends.  The  trouble,  in  this  world,  is  that 
men  who  get  just  a  little  authority  too  often  use  it  to 
oppress  and  crush  their  fellow  men.  “  We  are  re¬ 
minded  of  the  words  of  Peter  relative  to  ‘  The  Mas¬ 
ter  ’ — God  anointed  Him  with  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
with  power :  who  went  about  doing  good  and  healing 
all  that  were  oppressed  of  the  devil;  for  God  was 
with  Him.” 

Instances  of  the  Manifestation  of  Christ's  Power 
are  given  by  Mark. 

The  manifestation  is  in  two  parts.  We  have 


Mark  1 23 

to  consider  both — Divine  Power  and  Human 
Power. 

The  Human  Power .  He  had  the  human  side 
and  manifested  it  in  a  remarkable  way.  He  was 
hungry.  He  was  tired.  He  slept.  He  ate.  He 
loved  the  companionship  of  His  fellow  men.  He  had 
compassion.  He  sympathized  with  the  woes  of  the 
people. 

The  Divine  Power  was  equally  manifest  and 
used  to  help.  In  the  short  space  of  sixteen  chapters 
there  are  nineteen  miracles  recorded;  a  number  of 
them  with  great  circumstantiality.  Mark  expresses 
no  doubt  in  regard  to  them.  Here  are  some  of  the 
instances  which  Mark  tells  us  about,  in  his  book — 1 — 
“  Jesus  taught  as  one  that  had  authority  and  not  as 
the  scribes”  (1:22).  He  ordained  others  to  teach 
and  to  heal  (3:13-15).  2 — The  unclean  spirits 

acknowledged  His  power  (1:27).  The  great  trou¬ 
ble  in  society,  family  and  state  is  that  of  unclean 
men  and  women.  They  refuse  to  obey  and  foul  the 
water  of  the  springs  of  life.  3 — Power  to  heal  the 
sick  (1:30,  31,  34).  There  is  moral  and  mental 
sickness  as  well  as  physical  sickness.  Heal  the  first 
two  and  the  other  would  largely  disappear.  Christ 
did  cure  all  three.  4 — Power  to  forgive  sins.  Christ 
did  not  leave  this  in  doubt  (2:5-10).  5 — Power 

over  nature  (4:36-40),  Many  instances  are  given. 
He  stilled  the  storm  on  Galilee.  He  multiplied  the 
loaves  and  fishes.  Why  should  these  stand  as  such 
impossibilities  to  some  people?  What  were  once 
miracles — “  The  Wireless,”  the  “  Heavier  than  Air 
Flying  Machine,”  etc.,  etc.,  are  now  commonplaces. 


124  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

A  miracle  may  not  be  contrary  to  nature  while  it 
may  be  contrary  to  what  we  know  about  nature.  We 
know  really  so  little  about  the  order  of  nature,  even 
the  wisest — Why  stumble  at  the  miracles  of  Christ? 
Herbert  Spencer  once  said  to  a  friend :  “  You  cannot 
take  up  any  problem  in  physics  without  being  quickly 
led  to  some  metaphysical  problem  that  you  can  neither 
solve  nor  evade.”  Mark  verily  believed  and  taught 
that  “  The  Lord  of  Glory  ”  had  come  to  earth  and 
that  nothing  was  impossible  to  Him.  But  here  is  the 
astonishing  thing  that  this  Lord  of  Glory  laid  aside 
His  glory  and  used  His  power  to  help  men  to  better 
lives.  6 — Power  to  raise  the  dead  (5 :  22-24,  35-42), 
and  power  to  raise  Himself  from  the  dead  in  His 
resurrection.  This  was  what  Mark  taught  from 
hearing  it  preached  and  seeing  the  Gospel  in  its 
earliest  manifestations. 

The  Hunt  for  Power  is  on. — Man  is  searching 
everywhere  for  it.  Coal,  oil,  gas,  water,  iron  ore, 
land  and  sea  interest  him  only  as  he  can  wring  from 
them  their  secrets  of  power.  He  will  spend  time,  un-  , 
limited  money,  and  energy  if  he  can  see  the  slightest 
prospect  of  making  use  of  any  of  these  agencies  for 
more  power.  He  searches  everywhere  for  this 
treasure  or  storehouse  of  power.  He  wants  to  con¬ 
nect  up.  But  here  in  Jesus  Christ  is  a  storehouse  of 
power  that  wants  to  be  connected  up  with  man  and 
help  him  to  find  himself  first  in  the  Kingdom  of  God 
and  then  the  rest  will  be  easy.  This  also  is  the  teach¬ 
ing  of  Mark  and  is  one  reason  why  he  is  so  tremen¬ 
dously  in  earnest  about  his  message. 

Questions. — What  is  the  new  way  of  looking  at 


Mark  1 25 

Christ?  What  can  be  said  of  the  writer,  Mark? 
Mark,  the  traveler?  Mark,  the  close  companion  of 
Peter?  What  can  be  said  of  the  ministry  of  Mark 
in  service?  The  book  of  Mark?  Characteristics  of 
the  book?  What  is  the  message  of  Mark?  Give 
instances  of  the  manifestation  of  Christ’s  power. 
What  can  be  said  for  the  hunt  for  power  ? 


XVIII 


LUKE 

THE  MAN  WHO  BROADCASTED  THE  GOSPEL 

GOOD  NEWS 

“  Luke,  the  Beloved  Physician,”  is  what  Paul 
calls  him  when  he  was  in  prison  in  Rome  and  wrote 
the  letter  to  the  Church  in  the  city  of  Colosse.  This 
shows  how  dear  Luke  was  to  Paul.  It  is  a  human 
touch  and  shows  how  strong  one  man’s  affection  may 
be  for  another  (Col.  4: 14). 

The  author  of  the  messages,  in  the  Gospel  of  Luke 
and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  broadcasted  over  the 
ancient  and  modern  worlds,  as  no  other  messages 
have  been,  was  a  careful,  conscientious  doctor.  He 
was  not  only  large  of  heart  and  of  great  spiritual 
vision  but  he  had  a  literary  ability  of  a  high  order. 

He  was  a  Gentile;  a  Greek  by  birth.  He  was  a 
man  of  some  wealth  or  else  he  would  not  have  been 
able  to  attend  upon  Paul  and  go  with  him  as  he  did 
from  place  to  place.  He  probably  bore  not  only  his 
own  expenses  but  helped  to  bear  those  of  Paul.  He 
is  an  example  of  how  the  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ 
affected  all  classes,  high  and  low,  in  those  times. 

He  was  an  accurate  and  painstaking  observer, 
trying  always  to  make  sure  of  his  facts  before  setting 
them  down.  This  he  declares  in  the  preface  to  his 
Gospel — Luke  1 : 1-4.  He  is  after  “  The  Certainties.” 

126 


Luke 


127 


In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  he  is  careful  to  use 
“  We  ”  when  he  is  with  Paul  and  “  They ”  when  he 
it  not. 

In  regard  to  his  standing  as  a  physician  Dr.  Ho¬ 
bart  has  written  a  book  on  “  The  Medical  Language 
of  St.  Luke”  in  which  he  gives  testimony  to  Dr. 
Luke’s  accuracy  in  the  use  of  medical  terms  as  com¬ 
pared  with  those  used  by  Galen,  Hippocrates  and 
other  ancient  medical  writers  of  note. 

The  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  to-day  is  not  only 
shown  in  the  multitude  of  “  St.  Luke  Churches  ”  but 
also  in  the  multitude  of  “  St.  Luke  Hospitals  ”  of 
which  one  is  in  almost  every  city  in  the  United 
States  and  they  are  scattered  over  the  world. 

Antioch,  the  City  of  Luke,  where  tradition  has  it 
that  he  exercised  his  profession,  was  the  third  city 
in  point  of  population  (500,000)  and  importance  in 
the  Roman  Empire.  It  was  the  second  great  center 
of  Christianity.  It  was  from  here  that  Christian 
influences  were  broadcasted  that  have  influenced 
the  world  for  all  time.  It  is  this  broadcasting  in¬ 
fluence  of  which  Luke  tells  us  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles. 

The  title  by  which  Antioch  was  known,  in  those 
times,  was  “  The  Gay  City.”  A  strange  place  in 
which  to  start  a  great  Christian  campaign  for  the 
conversion  of  the  world.  It  was  about  three  hun¬ 
dred  miles  north  of  Jerusalem  and  sixteen  miles  from 
the  Mediterranean  Sea  on  the  Orontes  River.  It 
traded  with  all  parts  of  the  world  by  ships  and 
caravans.  There  were  many  fine  public  buildings. 
There  was  great  wealth.  Art  and  literature  were 


128  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

cultivated.  But  everything  was  made  to  promote 
and  foster  “  Gilded  Vice/'  About  four  miles  away 
was  “  The  Grove  of  Daphne  ”  known  throughout  the 
world  as  the  place  where  all  that  was  most  beautiful 
in  art  and  nature  had  created  the  magnificent  gardens 
where  there  was  held  a  continual  festival  of  vice. 
Juvenal,  a  great  Roman  writer,  complains  that  the 
iniquities  and  dissipations  of  Antioch  were  corrupt¬ 
ing  Rome. 

Yet  Luke  tells  us  how  into  this  “  Gay  City  ”  (Acts 
11 : 19-29)  the  Christian  missionaries  came  with  their 
message  and  “A  great  number  believed  and  turned  to 
the  Lord.”  So  many  came  in  that  outside  help  was 
sent  for  and  Paul  came.  It  shows  that  the  Gospel 
can  work  under  the  most  unfavourable  conditions 
and  where  there  is  seemingly  nothing  to  work  upon. 
Christianity  in  those  days  did  not  hesitate  to  go  into 
the  worst  places  in  the  most  corrupt  cities.  It  has 
the  same  power  to-day  if  we  will  use  it. 

Luke’s  Preparation  for  Work. — He  was  many 
years  in  getting  ready  to  do  what  he  did.  His  was 
no  hasty  task  easily  accomplished. 

He  was  a  traveling  companion  of  Paul  who  had 
come,  on  his  second  missionary  journey,  as  far  as 
Troas,  in  Mysia  in  Asia  Minor.  Here  Paul  saw  the 
vision  which  called  him  to  undertake  a  new  work 
(leaving  Asia)  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  It  was  a 
bold  venture  into  the  region  of  the  highest  culture  of 
Greek  civilization.  If  beauty,  if  art  of  the  highest 
type,  if  philosophy  could  have  saved  men  they  would 
not  have  needed  the  Gospel.  But  with  all  this  culti¬ 
vation  there  was  the  utmost  corruption  of  morals. 


Luke  1 29 

The  social  evil  was  made  a  part  of  worship  in  the 
temples. 

Luke  met  Paul  in  Troas — note  the  change  from 
“  They  ”  in  chapter  16 :  6-9  to  “  We  ”  in  chapter 
16:T0fF.  We  can  always  tell  when  Luke  is  of  the 
party  by  his  use  of  the  “  We.”  Luke  went  to  Philippi 
with  Paul  where  the  first  church  in  Europe  was  or¬ 
ganized  (Ch.  16:  12-40).  Luke  was  left  in  Philippi. 
Notice  the  seventeenth  chapter  begins  the  “  They  ” 
again.  Luke  remained  at  Philippi  for  a  number  of 
years,  or  until  Paul  returned  to  this  city  (Ch.  20:6) 
and  “  We  ”  sailed  away  from  Philippi. 

From  this  second  meeting,  until  the  death  of  Paul, 
Luke  seems  to  have  been  with  him.  He  was  with 
him  when  Paul  went  up  to  Jerusalem  for  the  last 
time.  He  was  with  him  when  he  sailed  away  from 
Oesarea  after  Paul  had  been  imprisoned  for  two 
years  in  that  city.  Luke  was  with  Paul  on  his 
journey  to  Rome,  and  in  Rome.  He  was  with  him  in 
his  first  imprisonment  (Col.  4:14  and  Phil.  24). 
He  was  with  him  in  his  last  imprisonment,  when  it 
was  dangerous  (2  Tim.  4:11). 

Luke,  certainly,  had  abundant  opportunities  to  see 
and  know  how  Christianity  worked  in  big  and  little 
places  and  amongst  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
people. 

The  Doctor’s  Pastorate  at  Philippi  for  seven 
years.  It  is  not  an  easy  thing  to  step  out  of  one’s 
chosen  profession  and  into  another  and  make  a 
success.  But  Luke  through  his  love  for  Christ  did 
this.  The  city  of  Philippi  was  an  important  one  on 
the  Great  Egnatian  Road  and  travelers  and  traders 


130  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

passed  over  it  eastward  and  westward  from  all  parts 
of  the  Roman  Empire.  It  was  a  center  of  a  large 
life  and  activity.  One  secret  of  Luke’s  influence  to¬ 
day  is  due  to  the  fact  that  he  not  only  knew  the 
theory  of  Christianity  but  also  had  applied  it  and 
seen  it  applied  under  the  most  difficult  and  adverse 
circumstances  and  it  had  worked  in  every  case. 

The  Messages  which  Luke  had  to  give  to  the 
world  are  found  in  two  books  which  it  is  supposed 
were  begun  to  be  put  into  shape  at  the  time  he  was  in 
attendance  upon  Paul  in  his  two  years’  imprisonment 
in  Caesarea.  He  would  have  ample  time  to  look  up 
scenes  and  incidents  of  Christ’s  life  in  places  where 
they  occurred  and  consult  those  still  living  who  had 
seen  and  heard  Christ.  He  could  also  go  over  with 
Paul  the  accounts  of  his  journey ings  when  he  was 
not  with  him. 

The  Gospel  of  Luke.  There  is  a  logical  order  of 
events.  After  the  introduction  (Ch.  1 : 1-4)  there 
are  six  natural  divisions.  1 — 1:5-2:52 — Narrative 
of  the  birth,  childhood  and  youth  of  John  Baptist 
and  Jesus.  2 — 3:1-4:13 — Preparation  for  Christ’s 
public  work.  3 — 4 : 14-9 :  50 — Christ’s  Galilean  Min¬ 
istry.  4 — 9 :  51-19 :  27 — Christ’s  Journey  to  Jeru¬ 
salem.  5 — 19:28-23:56 — Passion  Week.  6—24: 

1— 53- — Resurrection  and  ascension  of  Christ. 

The  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  This  book  may  be 
divided  into  three  parts  taking  for  its  text  chapter 
1:8.  1 — The  work  in  Jerusalem  (Ch.  1:1-7:60). 

2 —  The  work  in  Judaea  and  Samaria  (8:1-12:25). 

3 —  The  work  in  the  world  at  large— The  Three  Mis¬ 
sionary  Journeys  of  Paul  (13:1-28:31). 


Luke 


131 

The  Appeal  is  to  the  Certainties. — Luke  does  not 
plead.  He  does  not  argue.  He  wants  us  to  con¬ 
sider  the  facts  (Luke  1: 1-4).  The  certainty  of  the 
reality  of  Christ ;  here  is  no  dim  and  indistinct  figure 
but  one  standing  forth  as  real ;  His  is  the  strong  per¬ 
sonality  about  which  events  and  persons  group  them¬ 
selves.  The  Certainty  of  Christ’s  mission  (Luke  4: 
16-21).  He  declares  that  He,  Christ,  is  “The 
Anointed  One.”  The  certainty  of  Christ’s  power. 

Characteristics.  A  world-wide  ministry.  Christ 
opened  His  Gospel  with  this  declaration  (4:16-21)* 
He  closed  it  by  saying  that  His  name  should  be 
proclaimed  “Amongst  all  nations  ”  (24:  47, 48).  Glad 
tidings  for  all  men.  The  opening  chapters  of  Luke 
record  “  how  Christ  came  into  the  world  heralded  by 
songs  of  rejoicing;  “  The  Ave  Maria,”  “  The  Magnif¬ 
icat,”  “  The  Benedictus,”  “  The  Gloria  in  Excelsis  ” 
and  “  The  Nunc  Dimittis.”  Again  Luke  tells  us  that 
Christ  departed  lifting  up  His  hands  in  blessing 
(Luke  28:50).  Sympathy  with  the  poor  and  out¬ 
cast  and  suffering. — Note  the  parables  of  the  “  Lost 
Sheep,”  the  “  Lost  Coin,”  the  “  Lost  Boy,”  the  “  Good 
Samaritan,”  etc.  Good  will  and  tolerance.  Praise 
and  thanksgiving.  Prayer.  Womanhood,  etc. 

What  Luke  Stood  for  in  Himself. — Thorough¬ 
ness  in  what  he  undertook.  He  was  very  careful  to 
try  in  every  way  to  keep  his  writings  from  error. 
Cheerfulness;  there  are  able,  good,  righteous  men 
and  women  who  are  conscientious  in  what  they  do 
but  they  are  not  pleasant  of  disposition  or  counte¬ 
nance  but  Luke  called — “  The  Beloved  Physician  ”  by; 
one  who  knew  him  best  has  a  sunny  way  with  him,* 


132  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

He  believed  the  Gospel  was  given — “  To  make  us  of 
good  cheer.”  Helpfulness  where  help  was  needed 
most;  he  was  an  educated  physician  yet  he  saw  that 
he  could  help  the  world  the  most  by  preaching  Christ 
and  working  for  Him.  Courage;  notice  how  Paul 
wrote  to  Timothy  in  his  last  imprisonment — and  not 
so  long  before  his  death — “  Only  Luke  is  with  me ;  ” 
Luke  was  not  afraid  to  stand  by  Paul  when  he  en¬ 
dangered  his  own  life  by  doing  so.  Faith,  strong, 
reliable  and  unwavering. 

Questions. — What  can  be  said  of  Luke — what 
does  Paul  call  him — of  what  books  is  he  the  author — 
what  does  Dr.  Hobart  say  of  his  medical  knowledge  ? 
Describe  the  city  of  Antioch — what  had  it  to  do  with 
early  Christianity?  What  can  be  said  of  Luke’s 
preparation  for  his  work?  How  long  was  Dr.  Luke 
pastor  of  the  church  at  Philippi?  What  can  be  said 
of  the  messages  of  Luke  ?  Into  how  many  parts  may 
Luke’s  Gospel  be  divided?  How  many  parts  the 
Acts?  To  what  does  Luke  appeal?  What  certain¬ 
ties  ?  What  are  the  characteristics  ?  What  did  Luke 
stand  for  in  himself  ? 


XIX 


JOHN 

THE  MAN  WHO  LISTENED-IN  ACROSS 

THE  VOID 

Getting  into  Touch  with  the  Infinite. — Man  lives 
in  a  world  of  mystery.  It  is  permeated  with  strange 
forces  which  he  is  trying  to  understand  and  with 
which  he  is  trying  to  connect.  Sometimes  he  is 
successful  and  sometimes  he  is  not.  When  he  suc¬ 
ceeds  he  seems  but  to  open  a  door  to  still  more 
mysterious  forces. 

Take  an  instance  of  these  strange  things.  A  man 
sits  in  a  quiet  room.  It  is  remote  from  the  street. 
All  unknown  to  him  that  room  is  vibrating  with 
sounds.  A  great  orator  is  making  a  speech  five 
hundred  miles  away  and  every  word  is  repeated  in 
this  room.  A  thousand  miles  away  a  concert,  of  the 
best  musical  talent,  is  being  given  and  it  is  being 
reproduced  here.  The  air  is  crowded  with  voices. 
Yet  the  man  sitting,  in  this  room,  professes  that  he 
hears  nothing.  It  is  to  him  as  if  these  sounds  did 
not  exist.  Now  let  him  take  a  certain  apparatus, 
made  in  a  certain  way,  to  interpret  these  sounds  and, 
strange  to  say,  the  room  leaps  into  life.  He  is  in 
tune  with  the  great  orator  and  hears  every  word. 
He  shuts  off  the  oratory  and  now  he  “  Listens-in  ” 
at  the  concert,  hearing  all.  What  the  “  Radio-Man  ” 
has  done  for  the  man  in  the  quiet  room  John  pro- 

*33 


134  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

posed,  long  before  this  new  thing  had  come  to  life, 
to  do  for  the  material  man  who  did  not  realize  the 
spiritual  things  about  him. 

John  was  a  pioneer  worker.  For  many  men  he  is 
still  a  pioneer.  Men  do  not  use  “  The  Spiritual 
Radio  ”  even  when  its  use  is  explained  but  to  those 
who  do  there  is  a  new  and  wonderful  world  opened. 

John  carries  over  “  The  revelation  of  Christ  from 
the  world  of  outward  fact  to  that  of  inward  religious 
experience.”  He  gives  this  out  as  his  definite  pur¬ 
pose.  He  is  not  writing  at  random,  just  to  make  a 
history  of  what  he  saw,  but  “  These  are  written  that 
ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God;  and  that  believing  ye  might  have  life  through 
his  name”  (John  20:31).  The  great  work  of 
Christ  is  to  impart  life.  Man  in  the  silent  room  of  a 
material  world,  through  Christ,  has  that  room  leap 
into  life  with  voices  which  put  him  into  tune  with 
“  The  Infinite.” 

Preparation  of  John  in  Contact  With  John  Bap¬ 
tist. — In  order  to  do  any  work  which  is  worth 
while,  and  lasting,  a  man  must  have  a  certain  ade¬ 
quate  preparation.  Nothing  worth  while  can  be  done 
offhand.  He  must  know  all  angles  of  that  which 
he  wishes  to  do  if  he  is  to  be  highly  effective. 

John  began  the  preparation  for  his  ministry ,  for  all 
ages  and  all  nations,  as  a  disciple  of  John  Baptist. 
How  long  he  was  with  him  we  do  not  know.  We  do 
know  that  in  John  Baptist  he  came  in  contact  with  a 
wonderful  personality  who  had  “  Listened-in  ”  to  a 
message  that  was  given  to  him  from  “  On  High  ” 
and  who  was  giving  this  message  to  the  people  of 


John 


*35 


Palestine.  So  effective  was  he  in  doing  this  that 

» 

multitudes  of  people  came  to  hear  him  in  a  desolate 
place  by  the  river  Jordan.  Still  more  wonderful  they 
did  that  which  it  is  not  easy  to  get  men  to  do — 
“  They  came  confessing  their  sins.”  John  Baptist 
was  counted  “A  Prophet.”  He  had  gotten  into  tune 
with  “  The  Infinite  One.”  All  this  John,  who  was 
to  become  an  apostle  of  Christ,  saw  and  heard. 

Jesus  Invites  John  to  Find  the  Way. — The 
second  stage  in  the  preparation  of  John  was  when  he 
came  in  contact  with  Jesus  Christ  for  the  first  time. 
When  all  Palestine  was  flaming  into  praise  with  the 
name  and  exploits  of  John  Baptist.  It  was  bruited 
abroad  that  he  was  the  long  expected  Messiah.  What 
was  John’s  astonishment  to  see  him  bow  his  head 
before  Jesus  of  Nazareth  (Ch.  1:28-36).  He 
doubtless  was  very  much  puzzled  to  hear  John  Bap¬ 
tist  say  (Ch.  1:29):  “Behold  the  Lamb  of  God, 
which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  World  ”  and  just 
before  this  (Ch.  1:27):  “  He  it  is  who  coming  after 
me  is  preferred  before  me,  whose  shoe’s  latchet  I 
am  not  worthy  to  unloose.”  It  was  as  if  he  had 
said :  “  The  Master  to  whose  voice  I  have  been 
listening  has  come.” 

Two  disciples,  one  of  whom  was  John,  just  won¬ 
dered,  wondered,  what  it  could  mean!  What  more 
natural  than  that  they  should  follow  Jesus  to  find  out 
(Ch.  1:37,  38). 

Jesus *  invitation  to  “  Come  and  see  ”  resulted  in 
their  “  Listening-in  ”  to  “  The  Voice  ”  which  led  John 
to  do  his  great  work  for  all  people.  Such  was  the 
impression  made  by  this  first  interview  that  the  exact 


136  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

hour  of  the  day  is  put  down — “  The  Tenth  ” — which 
is  four  o’clock. 

The  School  of  Discipleship  or  “  the  Try  Out.” — 

Note  how  gradually  things  proceed.  Every  event 
comes  in  order.  There  is  no  hurry.  Jesus  had  quite 
a  following  of  disciples  before  He  chose  —  “the 
Twelve  Apostles”  (Luke  6:13-16).  He  seems  to 
have  been  trying  out  the  disciples,  of  whom  John 
was  one,  to  finally  select  those  whom  He  could  trust 
with  “  The  Great  Mission.”  This  crowd  of  disciples 
went  with  Him  and  saw  the  mighty  works  which  He 
did.  It  was  “  The  Try  Out  ”  the  same  as  men  are 
under  observation  and  trial  for  important  places  to¬ 
day. 

The  Home  Life  of  John  was  a  happy  one.  He 
came  from  a  “  Well-to-Do  ”  family.  They  had  boats 
and  hired  servants.  The  occupation  of  fishing  was 
lucrative  (Mark  1:19,  20).  Zebedee,  the  father, 
made  not  the  slightest  objection  to  his  sons,  James 
and  John,  going  with  Jesus.  The  mother,  Salome, 
was  a  follower  of  Jesus,  going  even  to  the  cross 
(Matt.  27 :  66 ;  Mark  15 : 40,  41).  It  is  a  great  thing 
when  home  influences  are  in  favour  of  spiritual  think¬ 
ing  and  living. 

Called  to  Be  an  Apostle. — John  was  one  of 

twelve  whom  Jesus  chose  to  be  with  Him  and  to  be 
trained  for  “A  World-Wide  Campaign  for  the  Con¬ 
version  of  the  World.”  The  two  sons  of  Zebedee 
and  Salome  were  named  second  and  third  in  the  list 
of  the  chosen  ones.  How  important  this  choice  was 
we  are  just  beginning  to  see.  These  are  the  names 
;which  the  world  cherishes  and  perpetuates  above 


John 


*37 


those  of  great  rulers,  generals,  poets,  artists,  mer¬ 
chant  princes  and  the  so-called  “  Mighty  Ones  ”  of 
this  earth.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  “  The 
Twelve  ”  realized  to  what  an  undying  fame  they  were 
called. 

We  have  to  remember  that  these  men  had  been 
with  Jesus,  as  disciples,  and  had  listened  to  His  teach¬ 
ing  and  seen  the  miracles  which  He  did  (Mark  3 : 13- 
19;  Luke  6:13-16).  Matthew  tells  us  in  the  tenth 
chapter  that  as  soon  as  “  The  Twelve”  were  chosen 
they  were  sent  out,  “  Having  been  given  power 
against  unclean  spirits  to  cast  them  out  and  to  heal 
all  manner  of  sickness  and  all  manner  of  disease.” 

John  was  very  close  to  his  “Master.”  He  was 
present  at  “  the  Transfiguration.”  He,  with  Peter, 
was  sent  to  make  ready  for  “  the  Lord's  Supper.” 
He  was  in  the  “  Garden  of  Gethsemane  ”  with  Christ. 
John  was  the  first  to  recover  himself  after  the  arrest 
of  Christ.  He  was  present  at  His  trial.  He  was  the 
only  apostle  who  dared  follow  Christ  to  the  cross. 
He  received  the  charge  of  Christ  to  care  for  His 
mother. 

After  the  resurrection  he  saw  and  talked  with 
Christ  and  knew  Him  without  doubt.  He,  with 
Peter,  went  boldly  into  the  temple  and  proclaimed 
the  Christ — Acts,  chapter  3.  Peter  and  John  were 
sent  for  to  go  into  Samaria  to  help  in  the  great  work 
there — Acts  8:14.  When  Paul  went  to  Jerusalem 
about  50  A.  D.  John  was  there  and  met  him — Gala¬ 
tians  2 : 1-9. 

Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Ephesus. — John,  the 
apostle,  settled  in  Ephesus  late  in  the  sixties  accord- 


138  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

ing  to  the  testimony  of  such  well-known  men  in  the 
Church  as  Irenseus,  Papias,  Poly  crates  of  Ephesus 
and  Clement  of  Alexandria.  Here  also  Andrew  and 
Philip  are  said  to  have  lived  in  their  later  years. 
This  church  was  founded  by  Paul — Acts  19,  Here, 
in  all  probability,  John  wrote  his  Gospel. 

This  city  was  the  third  great  center  of  Chris¬ 
tianity.  Here  was  held  a  “  Perpetual  Vanity  Fair.” 
Its  theater,  seating  50,000  spectators,  was  a  wonder. 
Its  stadium  was  dedicated  to  “  Reality  ” ;  men  fought 
with  wild  beasts  to  the  death ;  men  fought  with  men 
to  the  death ;  all  scenes  were  acted  out  in  reality.  Its 
temple  of  Diana,  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world 
(324  feet  long  and  164  feet  wide),  was  filled  with  the 
most  exquisite  works  of  art,  yet  its  worship  was  of 
a  shapeless  image  and  grossly  immoral.  A  queer 
place  in  which  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  yet 
Paul  won  many  people  here  and  from  this  city  the 
influence  of  the  Gospel  which  John  preached  has 
been  world  wide. 

The  Book  Message  of  John. — We  take  here  only 
the  Gospel.  We  have  seen  what  a  splendid  prepa¬ 
ration  John  had  for  the  message  he  finally  gave  to 
the  world.  Without  this  ample  preparation  he  could 
not  have  given  it.  The  great  questions  which  John 
considered  were  hotly  debated  in  his  day:  they  have 
lost  none  of  their  heat  after  the  many  centuries  that 
have  elapsed  since  he  was  on  earth.  They  are  the 
burning  issues  of  to-day.  This  Gospel  would  not 
stand  as  it  does  unless  John  had  brought  up  these 
questions.  Every  possible  means  has  been  employed 
to  bring  it  into  discredit  but  the  great  thing  at  issue 


John 


*39 


is  not  the  box  or  the  “  Radio  Apparatus  ”  in  any  of 
its  parts  but  does  it  connect  up  with  that  which  with¬ 
out  it  would  be  unheard?  That  John’s  Gospel  does 
connect  up  and  bring  us  into  tune  with  “  the  Infinite 
One  ”  has  been  shown  over  and  over  again.  It  works 
for  those  who  will  let  it  work. 

Great  Questions  Asked  and  Answered. — These 
are  timeless  and  ageless.  These  questions  are  the 
vital  ones  of  the  Christian  faith.  The  answers  are 
equally  vital.  Over  fifty  years  had  passed  since 
Christ  had  left  the  earth  in  bodily  form  when  John’s 
Gospel  was  issued.  Questions  of  His  relations  to  the 
Jewish  World  had  ceased  to  be  of  interest. 

Christianity  was  claiming  to  be  “  the  Universal  Re¬ 
ligion.”  Where  Matthew  and  Luke  left  off  and 
Mark  began — there  John  began.  “  In  the  beginning 
was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God  and  the 
Word  was  God.”  Here  is  what  Christianity  has  to 
say  in  regard  to  God,  life  and  destiny. 

First — Who  is  Jesus  Christ?  How  is  He  related 
to  God?  In  the  first  eighteen  verses  of  the  first  chap¬ 
ter  we  have  the  clear-cut  answer — see  the  first  verse 
quoted  above — “  In  him  was  life  and  the  life  was 
the  light  of  men  ” — John  1 : 1-18 ;  see  1 : 4. 

Second — How  can  man  know  God?  See  the  third 
chapter — Christ’s  talk  with  Nicodemus.  Religion  is 
not  merely  a  matter  of  form  and  ceremony;  it  is  a 
thing  of  a  new  heart  and  a  new  life — “  Listening- 
in  ”  to  get  into  tune  with  “  the  Infinite.” 

Third — Who  is  God  ?  Can  anything  be  more  plain 
than  Christ’s  answer — “  God  is  a  spirit  and  they  that 
worship  him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.”* 


140  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

Are  you  “  Listening-in  ”  to  hear  “  the  Spirit  of 
God  ”  ? 

Fourth — Where  and  how  worship  God? — chapter 
4 : 19-26.  Everywhere  and  always  there  is  free  ac¬ 
cess  to  God. 

Fifth — Does  God  really  care  for  man?  Chapter 
3 : 16-—“  For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave 
his  only  begotten  Son  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life." 
See  also  “  the  Good  Shepherd  parable  ” — chapter 
10 : 1-18. 

Sixth — Is  man  personally  immortal?  The 
eleventh  chapter  is  taken  to  help  answer  this  question 
— “  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life  ” — chapter 
11 :  25.  See  also  fourteen — one  where  Christ  de¬ 
clares  “  In  my  Father’s  house  are  many  mansions. 
.  .  .  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.”  See  also 

Christ’s  resurrection.  “  Listen-in  ”  for  yourself. 

Characteristics.  Ruggedness — he  was  called  a 
“  Son  of  Thunder.”  Lovableness — he  leaned  on 
Jesus’  breast  at  the  supper  table.  He  is  the  loved 
disciple.  His  courage — he  was  the  only  apostle  that 
dared  to  go  to  the  cross  with  his  Master.  His  spir¬ 
itual  insight ;  that  was  marvelous. 

Questions. — What  can  be  said  of  getting  into 
touch  with  “  the  Infinite  ”  ?  What  of  the  prepara¬ 
tion  of  John  with  John  Baptist  ?  How  did  Jesus  in¬ 
vite  John  to  find  the  way?  Give  an  account  of  the 
school  of  discipleship — Home  life  of  John — How 
John  was  called  to  be  an  apostle.  Of  what  church 
was  John  the  pastor?  What  about  the  book  mes¬ 
sage  of  John?  What  are  some  of  the  great  questions 
and  answers  in  the  book?  Characteristics  of  John? 


XX 


PETER 

THE  ASCENDING  MAN 

The  Way  of  a  Man — Up  or  Down? — When  a 
man  is  being  considered  for  any  position  the  ques¬ 
tion  is  always  asked — Which  way  is  he  going — up 
or  down?  It  is  not  so  much  where  he  is  now  as 
where  he  is  headed  for.  There  is  no  standing  still 
in  life.  Hence  the  search,  when  any  place  worth 
while  is  open,  for  a  man,  to  fill  it,  who  has  not 
reached  the  limit  of  his  power  and  capability  and 
who  has  ambition  to  walk  in  the  upward  way.  This 
ascending  ambition  is  not  considered  solely  in  regard 
to  its  intellectual,  commercial,  political  or  other  as¬ 
pects,  but  other  things  are  looked  at  which  pertain 
to  the  heart  purposes  and  the  moral  and  spiritual 
outlook.  A  man  may  go  up  in  things  that  have  to  do 
only  with  material  prosperity  and  meet  his  own  soul 

0 

coming  down — which  he  soon  must  follow. 

It  is  evident ,  in  Peter ,  that  Jesus  saw,  what  others 
might  not  have  seen,  a  man  of  large  ascending  am¬ 
bition  with  a  moral  and  spiritual  outlook,  which 
if  given  proper  objectives  would  carry  him  far.  He 
did  not  look  upon  what  Peter  was  or  his  occupation 
but  what  Peter,  under  proper  influences  and  train¬ 
ing,  might  become.  That  Jesus  was  justified  in  His 
estimate  of  Peter  as  “  the  Ascending  Man  ”  is  evi- 

141 


142  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

dent  from  the  story  of  Peter  which  we  find  in  the 
New  Testament.  He  had  his  excellencies  which  were 
diligently  cultivated  to  make  them  stepping-stones 
to  things  higher  up.  He  had  his  faults,  he  was  in¬ 
tensely  human,  in  which  he  did  not  continue  but 
bitterly  repented  as  he  went  on  up. 

It  is  not  what  a  man  is,  the  circumstances  under 
which  he  is  bom,  his  occupation  or  the  place  where 
he  lives  that  count  so  much  as  what  he  desires  to 
become  and  his  determination  to  walk  in  the  way 
of  the  man  going  up  in  spite  of  all  the  difficulties 
jvhich  he  may  encounter. 

From  all  points  of  view  the  story  of  Peter  is  well 
worth  careful  study  for  our  encouragement  to  keep 
on  the  upward  way. 

Peter — the  Fisherman. — If  you  had  been  a  visi¬ 
tor  in  Capernaum,  in  New  Testament  times,  and 
gone  out,  early  in  the  morning,  to  the  shore  of  Lake 
Galilee  and  seen  Peter,  with  the  other  men,  coming 
ashore  from  his  boat  and  been  told  that  he  would 
have  a  name  and  fame  that  would  be  world-wide, 
you  would  doubtless  have  said — “  Nonsense,  such  a 
thing  is  impossible.”  But  the  impossible  has  come 
to  pass. 

Consider  this  man  not  as  crude  and  uncouth,  as 
some  have  tried  to  make  him  out.  His  occupation 
of  fishing  required  courage,  vigour  of  body  and  a 
resourceful  mind.  The  shore  of  Galilee  was  almost 
like  one  continuous  city  and  Peter  would  con¬ 
stantly  come  in  contact  with  the  best  life  of  his 
day.  He  owned  his  own  boat  and  might  have  had 
helpers. 


Peter 


H3 


He  was  a  religious  man;  a  member  of  the  Caper¬ 
naum  Synagogue.  He  attended  the  big  revival  held 
by  John  Baptist  by  the  River  Jordan. 

His  home  was  in  Capernaum  where  he  owned  a 
house.  He  was  married  and  his  wife's  mother  lived 
with  him — Matthew  8 : 14 ;  Mark  1 : 28,  30.  His  wife 
evidently  loved  the  work  of  Christ  as  he  did,  and 
accompanied  him  on  his  missionary  tours,  while  Paul 
was  on  his,  for  Paul  speaks  of  her — 1  Corinthians 
9 :  5 — as  being  with  him. 

Peter  and  his  brother,  Andrew,  were  partners  with 
James  and  John  working  out  from  Bethsaida,  the 
fishing  quarter  of  Capernaum — Luke  5 :  7-11 ;  John 
1:44. 

Disciple  of  John  Baptist  and  of  Jesus. — The 

quartet  of  fishermen — Peter,  Andrew,  James  and 
John — were  attracted  by  John  Baptist  when  he  gave 
his  great  message  of  repentance  by  the  River  Jor¬ 
dan.  How  long  they  were  with  him  we  do  not  know 
— John  1 : 29-51. 

When  Jesus  came  to  John  Baptist  He  found  there 
these  fishermen  intent  upon  knowing  the  way  of  the 
upward  life.  They  were  not  satisfied  simply  with 
the  material  side  of  things  but  they  wanted  to  know 
the  way  of  the  spiritual  life — John  1 :  35-42.  Eager 
as  they  were — these  men  in  their  prime — for  gain 
they  were  more  eager  to  know  the  way  of  life.  Jesus 
seems,  at  once,  to  have  seen  what  Peter  might  become 
in  his  work  for  Him — John  1 : 40-42. 

In  this  matter  of  discipleship  many  were  attracted 
both  to  John  Baptist  and  Jesus  and  seem  to  have 
been  more  or  less  closely  attached  to  them,  not  how- 


144  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

ever  giving  up  their  whole  time  to  them,  to  the  ex¬ 
clusion  of  their  occupations. 

The  Apostle  of  the  First  Place. — Peter  was 
chosen  as  the  first  apostle  and  retained  this  primacy 
until  the  last — Matthew  10 : 1-5 ;  Mark  3 : 13-19 ; 
Luke  6 : 12-17.  We  do  not  know  all  the  reasons  why 
Peter  was  chosen  to  head  the  list  of  apostles  but  we 
do  know  that  he  had  a  very  warm  heart.  He  loved 
Jesus  with  all  the  strength  of  his  nature.  He  had 
a  keen  mind — it  almost  flew  to  a  conclusion. 

Take  the  discourse  of  Jesus  at  Capernaum  on  “  the 
Bread  of  Life  ” — John  6 :  22-65 — full  of  hard  say¬ 
ings  and  where  He  shattered  the  hopes  of  the  Jews 
that  He  was  come  as  “their  Worldly  Messiah.” 
Many  turned  away  from  Him — John  6 :  66.  Seeing 
many  turn  away— -and  maybe  the  apostles  wavering 
— Jesus  said — “  Unto  the  twelve,  will  ye  also  go 
away  ?  ”  It  was  a  critical  moment.  Peter  at  once 
saw  the  gravity  of  the  occasion  and  the  tremendous 
issue  at  stake  and  replied — “  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we 
go?  thou  alone  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life.  And 
we  believe  and  are  sure  that  thou  art  that  Christ,  the 
Son  of  the  living  God  ” — John  6 :  68,  69. 

Jesus  takes  Peter  with  Him  on  His  journeys.  He 
sees  and  hears  all  that  is  done.  He  is  a  man  whom 
He  can  trust — there  is  never  any  doubt  about  the 
fidelity  of  Peter  under  any  and  all  situations.  He 
was  never  afraid  that  he  would  betray  his  trust.  He 
is  with  Jesus  at  Plis  Transfiguration,  in  the  Garden 
of  Gethsemane  and  at  the  Resurrection. 

The  Great  Confession. — This  is  the  crowning 
point  in  Peter’s  career  when  he  states  clearly  and 


Peter 


HS 

plainly — perceiving  clearly — who  Jesus  is  and  what 
His  mission  is.  Here  again  is  shown  the  keenness 
of  his  mind  and  the  warmness  of  his  heart. 

Jesus  asks  of  His  disciples  near  Caesarea  Philippi 
— “  Whom  do  men  say  that  I,  the  Son  of  man,  am  ?  ” 
Certainly  this  is  a  question  right  to  the  point  and 
it  newels  a  plain  and  convincing  answer.  It  is  a 
question  that  Jesus  is  ever  asking  in  every  age  and  of 
all  men.  It  is  hotly  debated.  Some  are  not  sure. 
Some  are  very  sure.  But  when  it  was  first  asked  it 
was  answered  by  Peter  who  had  every  opportunity 
to  know  how  to  answer  it.  He  had  heard  and  had 
seen  all  the  wonderful  things  that  Jesus  said  and  did. 
He  said — “  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  liv¬ 
ing  God.”  It  is  equally  interesting  to  know  what 
Christ  said  in  reply.  Did  He  waver?  Did  He  hesi¬ 
tate?  No — now  was  the  time  to  come  out  with  a 
straight  answer — right  to  the  point.  Christ  said — 
“Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-jona:  for  flesh  and 
blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee  but  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven  ” — Matthew  16 : 13-17 ;  Mark 
8:27-38;  Luke  9:18-27. 

In  commenting  on  His  own  reply  Jesus  goes 
farther  and  claims  that  He  will  come — “  In  the  glory 
of  his  Father  with  his  angels;  and  then  he  shall  re¬ 
ward  every  man  according  to  his  works  ” — Matthew 
16 :  27.  Surely  Peter  understood  his  Lord. 

The  Loss  and  Recovery  of  Peter's  Faith. — The 
Scriptures  would  not  be  what  they  are  if  they  did 
not  record  faithfully  all  that  took  place.  Peter  is 
human  and  has  all  the  failings  of  humanity.  Christ 
had  told  him  with  the  other  apostles  that  He  must 


146  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

go  up  to  Jerusalem  and  be  crucified  and  raised  the 
third  day.  Again  and  again  had  He  said  this.  But 
when  the  time  drew  near  and  Jesus  did  go  up  to 
Jerusalem  and  stood  trial  for  His  physical  life  Peter 
no  doubt  was  in  a  daze.  Everything  that  He  had 
stood  for  was  tumbling.  It  did  not  seem  possible— 
it  could  not  be  possible — that  Jesus  would  allow  Him¬ 
self  to  be  placed  on  trial  for  His  life.  And  yet  He 
did — just  as  He  had  told  His  apostles.  But  Peter 
was  crushed  and  denied  his  Master — forgetting  that 
Christ  said  he  would  deny  Him — Matthew  26 :  62- 
75. 

But  here  Peter  differs  from  many  who,  when  they 
deny,  do  nothing.  Peter  went  out  and  wept  bitterly. 
It  was  a  sad  time  for  Peter  until  after  the  resurrec¬ 
tion  of  Christ. 

Peter  is  Very  Prominent  in  the  resurrection 
scenes  of  Jesus  Christ — Mark  16;  Luke  24;  John  20 
and  21.  In  this  prominence  it  is  shown  how  fully 
Peter  is  forgiven  and  how  fully  he  is  reinstated  in 
the  love  of  his  Master. 

In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  while  Jesus  is  the 
object  of  all  that  is  said  and  done,  Peter  takes  the 
lead  for  the  first  twelve  chapters.  In  the  eighth 
verse  of  the  first  chapter  Christ  sets  forth  Chris¬ 
tianity’s  program  and  progress — “Ye  shall  be  wit¬ 
nesses  unto  me  in  Jerusalem,  in  Judaea  and  Samaria, 
and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth.” 

It  is  Peter  who  directs  in  the  choice  of  an  apostle 
to  take  the  place  of  Judas  the  traitor — Acts  1: 15-26. 

It  is  Peter  who  preaches  the  first  sermon  after 
Christ’s  ascension — Acts  2:1-40. 


Pctci 


*47 


It  is  Peter  who  organizes  the  first  Christian 
Church  with  about  three  thousand  members — Acts 
2:41. 

It  is  Peter  who  dares  to  go  into  the  Temple  and 
tell  the  people  and  the  priests  how  they  had  wrong¬ 
fully  killed  “  the  Prince  of  Life  and  Glory  ”  and 
that  salvation  is  only  through  Him.  This  is  a  very, 
very  different  Peter  from  the  one  who  denied  his 
Master  only  a  short  time  ago — Acts  3  and  4. 

It  is  in  this  period  that  the  Christian  Church  is 
set  up,  upon  its  feet,  the  ordinances  instituted  and 
the  first  deacons  chosen. 

It  is  in  this  period  that  the  Church  has  its  first 
martyr  in  Stephen  and  its  first  persecution  under 
Saul — Acts  7  and  8. 

It  is  now  that  the  first  missionary  enterprises  go 
out  into  Judaea  and  Samaria — Acts  8  to  12. 

It  is  right  here,  in  these  first  twelve  chapters,  un¬ 
der  Peter's  guiding  hand,  that  we  have  the  begin¬ 
nings  of  the  “  Great  Christian  Enterprises  ”  that  have 
filled  the  world. 

Peter  has  surely  come  a  long  way  on  “  the  Upward 
Way." 

He  is  “  the  Ascending  Man  ”  not  for  himself  only 
but  to  help  others  to  ascend  out  of  the  valley  of  sin, 
humiliation,  trouble  and  despair  to  the  sunny  high¬ 
lands  of  God’s  love  and  care. 

Read  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter  and  note  how  he 
tries  to  cheer  and  comfort  all  who  are  depressed 
and  downhearted.  How  he  tries  to  make  every  one 
feel,  as  he  feels,  about  the  Christ. 

Back  of  all  Peter  is,  what  he  is,  because  he  believes 


148  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

in  his  Master,  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  striving  to  make 
Him  known  to  others. 

Characteristics -  He  was  a  splendid  judge  of 
values,  of  his  Lord,  of  his  fellow  men,  of  things 
worth  while.  He  was  courageous  in  preaching  Christ 
right  where  he  had  made  his  slip  in  his  denial.  He 
was  exceedingly  bold  in  talking  to  men  who  had 
crucified  the  Christ — he  did  not  go  away  off  some¬ 
where  to  say  what  he  had  to  say.  He  did  not  wait 
for  others  but  he  took  the  lead,  in  doing  good,  be¬ 
cause  some  one  had  to  take  it  and  it  seemed  to  fall 
to  him.  His  motto  seemed  to  be — “  Forget  your  mis¬ 
takes.  Get  on  with  your  doing  good.” 

Questions. — What  can  be  said  of  the  way  of  a 
man — up  or  down?  What  can  be  said  of  Peter — 
the  fisherman?  What  of  Peter — the  disciple?  Peter 
— the  apostle  of  the  first  place — give  some  reasons 
for  his  appointment.  What  can  be  said  of  Peter's 
loss  and  recovery  of  his  faith?  Give  instances  of 
Peter's  leadership  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  State 
some  of  his  characteristics. 


XXI 


PAUL 

THE  MAN  WHO  BETTERED  CITY  CONDITIONS 

Seeking  New  Fields  of  Work. — With  the  open¬ 
ing  of  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  the  Acts  a  new 
and  important  era  in  the  story  of  Christianity  begins. 
Barnabas  and  Saul  (afterwards  known  as  Paul)  are 
called  to  new  fields  of  work  by  the  Holy  Ghost — 
Acts  13 : 1  -4.  Barnabas  drops  out,  after  a  while,  and 
Paul  is  left  to  carry  on  the  greatest  and  most  strenu¬ 
ous  missionary  enterprise  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

Why  this  insistent  call  to  advance  and  conquer 
new  territory  f  There  were  doubtless  those  who  said, 
in  those  days,  “  We  have  done  well.  Why  trouble 
ourselves?  See  how  much  has  been  accomplished 
in  the  revival  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  and  in  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  Judaea  and  Samaria,  in 
Antioch  and  other  cities.  We  may  now,  since  so 
much  has  been  done  in  such  a  short  time,  rest  from 
our  labours.”  But  this  was  not  evidently  the  mind 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  pressing  and  stressing  of 
the  cause  of  the  Christ  was  wanted  even  in  places 
where  there  seemed  little  prospect  of  success. 

This  is  not.  only  a  call  of  the  past.  It  is  the  Divine 
Call  to-day.  Any  enterprise  to  live — much  more  to 
succeed — must  be  constantly  seeking  new  ways  for 
expansion.  It  cannot  depend  upon  past  successes— 

M9 


150  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

no  matter  how  great— or  upon  an  acquired  momen¬ 
tum.  Men,  of  all  sorts  and  kinds,  and  institutions, 
of  all  sorts  and  kinds,  go  down  because  the  advance 
work  is  not  pressed.  We  sometimes  wonder  what  is 
the  matter  with  our  churches  that  they  do  not  grow. 
Is  not  this  the  trouble  that  no  advance  work  is 
pressed?  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  has  not  departed 
but  the  urgency  to  new  and  difficult  work  is  un¬ 
heeded.  If  Paul  had  said — “  Surely  there  is  enough 
work  to  be  done  here  in  Antioch  and  we  have  had  a 
great  success;  let  us  be  satisfied/'  then  he  would 
never  have  been  heard  of  by  us  in  this  far-off  age. 
It  was  his  willingness  to  go  ahead,  in  spite  of  diffi¬ 
culties,  that  made  him.  With  the  Church  of  the  past, 
so  to-day,  it  is  “  Grow  or  Go.” 

The  Drive  for  the  Betterment  of  the  Big  Cities. 
— The  big  city  has  been  the  problem  of  all  times — 
politically,  industrially,  socially,  morally,  religiously 
and  in  countless  other  ways.  Its  very  bigness  makes 
it  difficult  to  handle.  Its  poverty  grows  more  dire, 
and  the  insolence  of  riches  more  insolent,  as  the  city 
enlarges.  Its  evils  multiply  and  fester  and  breed 
corruption  as  the  population  increases.  One  great 
difference  between  the  cities  of  the  first  century — 
which  Paul  visited  and  worked  with — and  the  cities 
of  Christian  countries  of  to-day  is  the  way  in  which 
they  handled  the  vice  problem.  Antioch,  Ephesus, 
Corinth,  and  the  others,  put  no  check  whatever  upon 
moral  viciousness.  On  the  other  hand  they  encour¬ 
aged  it.  They  sought  to  make  it  attractive.  They 
gilded  it,  enshrining  it  in  their  temples.  Read 
Romans — 1 : 21-33 — as  a  sample  of  this  sort  of  thing 


Paul 


151 


which  is  depicted  in  all  of  Paurs  letters.  As  appro¬ 
priations  were  made  for  streets  and  public  buildings 
so  also  public  moneys  were  set  aside  for  the  support 
and  encouragement  of  immoral  institutions.  Such  a 
course  was  thought  to  make  the  city  attractive. 

Paul  preaching  Christ  and  purity  of  heart  and 
life  was  up  against  a  tremendous  problem.  All  his 
letters  show  this.  He  taught  that  the  betterment  of 
the  city  must  begin  in  cleansing  it  of  moral  vicious¬ 
ness.  He  saw  a  beauty  of  art  and  a  perfection  in 
architecture  in  Ephesus,  Corinth  and  Athens  which 
is  unequalled  to-day,  but  he  saw  that  it  had  been 
made  possible  by  unpaid  slave  labour  and  was  used 
to  debase  men’s  souls.  He  had  no  eyes  for  this 
beauty  of  art  or  architecture,  not  because  he  did  not 
see  it  but  because  he  saw  the  debasement  of  the 
moral  image  in  man.  He  was  intent  upon  restoring, 
in  man,  the  image  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  If  a 
plague  is  devastating  a  city  a  doctor  has  no  time  to 
observe  the  beauty  of  adornment  of  the  houses  to 
which  he  is  called.  Paul  had  no  controversy  with 
beautiful  things,  as  things,  but  he  was  more  con¬ 
cerned  with  the  adornment  of  the  soul  in  the  beauty 
of  purity  and  righteousness. 

We  are  still  struggling  with  this  primary  problem . 
It  is  the  greatest  of  them  all.  Get  this  settled  right 
and  all  the  others  are  settled. 

We  can  credit  to  Paul  and  his  heed,  of  the  call  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  that  cities  in  Christian  countries  at 
least  do  not  strive  to  foster,  or  appropriate  public 
funds  to  make  moral  vice  attractive.  They  repress 
it.  They  put  it  under  cover.  As  the  city  becomes 


152  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

more  Christian  it  roots  it  out.  But  the  best  way 
is  the  way  of  Paul  to  have  men  so  much  interested 
in  Christ  that  vicious  things  cease  to  attract.  The 
more  we  see  of  Paul  the  more  we  admire  his  cour¬ 
age  in  attacking  the  big  city  strongholds  of  vice. 
The  great  thing  is  that  the  attack  was  success¬ 
ful.  The  Church  needs  to  heed  the  Divine  Call  to¬ 
day. 

Paul — the  Leader. — Paul  is  the  principal  char¬ 
acter  in  the  Acts  from  the  thirteenth  chapter  to  the 
close  as  Peter  is  in  the  first  twelve  chapters.  The 
Holy  Spirit  who  is  mentioned  over  fifty  times  in  this 
book  is  the  director  of  activities.  See  Acts  1:8; 
2 : 1-4 ;  13 : 1-4 ;  16 :  6-10,  etc.  The  splendid  growth 
of  the  Church  was  made  possible  by  heeding  the  Di¬ 
vine  Calls. 

Qualifications  of  Paul. — Judged,  as  a  man,  by  his 
record  he  is  one  of  the  very  great  characters,  not 
only  in  the  Bible  but  in  all  history.  As  a  thinker  he 
has  few  if  any  equals.  As  a  writer  his  works  stand 
preeminent.  As  a  man  of  action,  he,  with  small 
equipment,  accomplished  the  largest  results.  He 
stirred  cities  as  no  man  has  ever  stirred  them.  He 
had  a  strong  and  pleasing  personality.  He  believed 
that  his  Master  was  the  great  regenerating  force  in 
the  world.  When  he  got  to  Corinth  and  saw  there, 
what  he  had  not  seen  before,  the  worst  vices  of  the 
east  meeting  the  worst  of  the  west  and  mingling 
to  make  a  perpetual  festival  of  moral  viciousness  he 
declared  his  helplessness,  himself,  to  handle  the  situ¬ 
ation  and  determined,  as  he  afterwards  wrote  the 
Corinthians— -1  Corinthians  2 :  2 — “  Not  to  know 


Paul  153 

anything  among  you  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  cru¬ 
cified.” 

He  was  a  native  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia — Acts  22 :  3ff. 
and  21 : 39.  This  city  had  a  large  commerce.  It 
was  one  of  the  three  big  university  centers  ranking 
with  Athens  and  Alexandria.  It  was  morally  cor¬ 
rupt  having  a  “  Special  Baal  worship  of  an  imposing 
but  unspeakably  degrading  character.” 

He  was  a  Pharisee  Jew ,  as  his  father  was — Acts 
23:6;  Philippians  3 :  5 — and  a  free-born  Roman  citi¬ 
zen — Acts  22 :  25,  28. 

He  had  a  good  education  upon  which  the  finish¬ 
ing  touches  were  put  in  Jerusalem  under  the  great 
teacher  Gamaliel — Acts  22:3. 

He  seems  to  have  been  well  acquainted  with  Greek 
philosophy  and  literature.  He  quotes  from  the  Greek 
poets — Aratus,  Epimenides  and  Menander. 

He  was  a  tent  maker  by  trade,  as  every  Jew  boy 
had  to  learn  a  trade — Acts  18:3;  20:34;  1  Corin¬ 
thians  4 : 12 ;  1  Thessalonians  2 :  9 ;  2  Thessalonians 
3:8. 

The  Persecutor. — Paul  first  appears — in  Acts 
7 :  58-60  and  8 : 1-4 — at  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen 
and  as  the  arch  persecutor  of  the  Christians  for 
whom  he  had  no  mercy,  hunting  them  out  in  their 
homes.  He  seems  to  have  been  absent  from  Jeru¬ 
salem,  after  completing  his  studies,  all  through  the 
time  of  the  preaching  of  John  Baptist  and  Jesus. 

Conversion. — We  open  the  book  of  Acts  to 
8 : 1-4  and  9 : 1,  2  and  we  find  “  Saul  .  .  .  breath¬ 
ing  out  threatenings  and  slaughter  against  the  disci¬ 
ples  of  the  Lord.” 


154  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

Again  we  open  this  book  to  9 : 19,  20  and  we  read 
— “  Then  was  Saul  certain  days  with  the  disciples 
which  were  at  Damascus.  And  straightway  he 
preached  Christ  in  the  synagogues  that  he  is  the  Son 
of  God.” 

What  has  happened?  There  is  only  one  answer 
and  that  is  that  he  has  had  a  remarkable  conversion, 
which  is  described  in  Acts  9 : 3-18.  This  is  the 
story  as  Luke  tells  it.  Paul  delighted  to  tell  the 
story  over  and  over  again  of  his  conversion.  Various 
attempts  have  been  made  to  explain  away  this  con¬ 
version  but  they  are  more  difficult  to  believe  than  the 
narrative  itself.  Read  what  Paul  said  about  it — 
Galatians  1 : 11-17 ;  Acts  22 :  6-16 ;  26 : 12-18.  Paul 
believed  that  his  Master  had  spoken  to  him.  And 
he  delighted  to  serve  Him  ever  afterwards. 

The  Ten  Years*  Preparation  for  his  work.  The 
narrative  in  Acts  runs  so  smoothly  that  we  some¬ 
times  fail  to  take  note  of  the  lapse  of  time  between 
important  events.  As  a  result  of  Paul’s  conversion 
the  Jews  tried  to  kill  him  and  the  Christians  were 
afraid  of  him.  After  doing  some  work  he  seems  to 
have  spent  much  time,  about  ten  years,  in  getting 
ready  for  what  was  afterwards  his  great  missionary 
task.  We  are  told  by  Paul  what  took  place  during 
some  of  this  period  of  preparation — Galatians  1 : 15- 
24 — and  that  he  was  in  Arabia,  in  Damascus,  in 
Jerusalem,  Syria  and  Cilicia.  The  study  of  the 
Scriptures,  the  prayer  and  meditation  of  this  ten 
year  period  helped  Paul  greatly  afterwards. 

The  Three  Great  Missionary  Journeys  (Acts 
13:1-21:16). — When  the  period  of  preparation  is 


Paul 


*55 

ended  we  find  Paul  at  Antioch  where  he  has  been 
brought,  from  Tarsus,  by  Barnabas — Acts  11 : 25,  26. 
Here  he  remained  a  year  before  the  call  came  to  his 
world- wide  task — Acts  13 : 1-4. 

The  influence  that  the  great  missionary  tours  have 
had  upon  the  history  of  mankind  cannot  be  over¬ 
estimated. 

The  time  that  it  took  to  make  the  tours  was  about 
ten  years  and  the  distance  covered,  in  miles,  was 
about  8,100.  The  record  of  Luke  does  not  pretend 
to  be  complete.  We  are  given  only  the  main  inci¬ 
dents  of  the  journeys. 

From  Jerusalem  to  Rome  (Acts  21:17-28:31). 
— This  record  comprises  more  than  one-quarter  of  the 
Acts’  chapters — seven  and  a  half.  We  are  here  told 
what  took  place  from  the  time  Paul  went  up  to 
Jerusalem  and  testified  for  his  faith — through  two 
years*  imprisonment  in  Gesarea — until  he  arrived  in 
Rome. 

Letters  of  Paul. — Of  the  twenty-seven  books  of 
the  New  Testament  twenty-one  are  in  the  form  of 
letters  from  which  we  can  get  a  clearer  idea  of  what 
took  place  than  in  any  other  way.  Thirteen  are  from 
Paul  (if  Hebrews  be  counted  in — fourteen).  They 
are  not  haphazard  productions.  They  follow  a 
clearly  defined  plan.  There  are  four  groups — 1 — 
The  Future  of  Christ’s  Kingdom — First  and  Second 
Thessalonians.  2 — Old  faiths  and  the  new.  Rela¬ 
tion  of  the  Christ  faith  to  the  Jewish  and  Heathen 
faiths — Galatians,  First  and  Second  Corinthians, 
Romans.  3 — The  Supremacy  of  Christ — Colossians, 
Philemon,  Ephesians,  Philippians.  4 — Pastoral 


i56  Studies  of  Great  Bible  Characters 

and  Personal — First  Timothy,  Titus,  Second  Tim¬ 
othy. 

To  Sum  Up. — In  about  thirty  years  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ  has  been  preached  all  over  the 
Roman  Empire.  It  has  separated  itself  from  Juda¬ 
ism  and  become  the  Great  World  Religion,  just  as 
Christ  desired — Matthew  28 : 19,  20 ;  Luke  24 : 46- 
48.  It  has  proved  its  power  to  overcome  sin  and 
evil  in  the  greatest  cities  of  its  time. 

The  Seen  Forces  are  the  men — Peter,  Paul,  John, 
James,  Timothy,  Titus  and  others. 

The  Unseen  Forces — the  Holy  Spirit  and  the 
Power  of  the  Christ  which  were  behind  the  men. 
They  are  behind  those  who  will  heed  them  to-day  for 
the  same  splendid  results. 

Questions. — What  can  be  said  about  the  Gospel 
seeking  new  fields  of  work — why  this  insistent  call 
to  advance?  What  may  be  said  about  the  drive  for 
the  betterment  of  cities — in  what  does  this  better¬ 
ment  consist?  What  can  be  said  of  Paul  as  a  leader? 
What  about  his  qualifications?  The  persecutor? 
What  can  be  said  of  Paul’s  conversion?  The  ten 
years’  preparation?  What  can  be  said  of  the  three 
missionary  journeys — From  Jerusalem  to  Rome — 
Letters  of  Paul — The  sum  up? 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  Ameriea 


BIBLE  STUDY  BY  BOOKS 

BY 

HENRY  T.  SELL,  D.D. 

New  Edition,  Revised,  with  Introductory  Chapter  on  The 
Making  of  the  Bible. 


52  CHAPTERS,  EMBRACING  THE  66  BOOK S 
IN  THE  OLD  AND  NEW  TIST AMENT 

An  abridged  Analysis  of  the  first  five  Chapters  is  here  given 

••  GENESIS:  The  Book  of  Beglnnlsgs.  Origin  of  the 
World,  Man,  Sin,  Salvation.  Revelations  of  God  asCre- 
ator, Preserver,  Lawgiver,  Judge  and  Merciful  Sovereign. 
Principal  Persons,  Leading  Events,  Purpose,  Plan,  Re¬ 
ligious  and  Scientific  Value.  Analysis:  The  Ten  Divi¬ 
sions. 

ft.  EXODUS:  The  flaking  of  a  Nation.  Contents,  Purpose- 
Scope,  the  Two  Great  Divisions,  Narrative  and  Legis, 
lative,  the  Moral,  Ceremonial  and  Civil  Laws,  Historical 
Value.  Analysis:  The  Nation,  I.  Called,  II.  Constituted. 
III.  Consecrated. 

#.  LEVITICUS:  The  Government  of  the  Nation.  Connec¬ 
tion  of  Leviticus  with  Exodus,  Contents,  Purpose,  The 
Law  of  Sacrifices,  The  Form  and  Significance.  Analysis* 
I.  Fundamental  Laws  of  Sacrifice,  Purification  and 
Atonement;  II.  The  Law  of  Holiness;  HI.  The  Corar 
mutation  of  Vows  and  Tithes. 

4*  NUMBERS:  The  Training  of  tha  Nation.  Contents. 
Relatmn  to  Leviticus,  Object  and  Accomplishment  of 
the  object  in  the  Training  of  the  Nation,  Advantages  of 
the  Desert  Wandering,  Manner  of  the  Desert  Life. 
Analy^s:  I.  The  Preparation  at  Sinai;  II.  The  March. 
Sinai  and  Moab;  III.  The  Victory,  the  Plain  of  Moab. 

§•  DEUTERONOMY:  The  Review  Book.  Situation  of  the 
Tribes,  Review  of  the  Law  and  History  of  Israel,  Neces¬ 
sity  for  this  Review,  Contents,  Purpose.  Analysis:  The 
Three  Addresses  of  Moses,  1.  Remembrance  of  God’s 
Care;  II.  Exposition  of  the  Law;  III.  Renewal  ef  the 
Covenant. 


TMe  Series  of  Studies  "Aims  to  set  forth  clearly  the  purpose, 
contents  and  analysis  of  each  book  and  to  show  Us  rela¬ 
tive  place  among  the  other  books,  especially  its  share  in 
revealing  divine  truth." 

"It  presents  one  of  the  best  possible  plans  ef  Bible 
study, that  of  analysis  and  mastery  of  a  hook  as  a  whole." 
This  book  has  been  traaslatediato  the  Spanish  language 


273  P«c**v  J2nao 


BIBLE  STUDY  BY  PERIODS 

BY 

HENRY  T.  SELL,  D.D. 


A  Series  of  Histories!  Bible  Studies  from  Gsaesis  to 

Revelation 

6  PERIODS,  24  CHAPTERS 


PERIOD* 

1C. 

m  me 
BEKUNNINCl 

II. 

TUB 

THEOCRACY 

HI. 

THE 

KINGDOM 

IV. 

THE 

CAPTIVTY 
SMB  RETURN 

V. 

CHRIST 
ON  EARTH 

VI. 

THE  FIRST 
CHURCHES 


I. 

8. 

3- 

4. 

1: 

1: 

9- 

ze. 

n. 

13. 

13. 

14. 

S: 

3: 

*9- 

fa. 

in. 

3: 

34. 


„  ,  CHAPTERS 

Creation. 

The  Garden  of  Eden. 

The  Flood. 

The  Aneient  World. 

Abraham  and  the  Chosen 
Moses  and  the  Exodus. 

Joshua  and  the  Conquest. 

The  J  udges  of  Israel. 

The  Rise  of  the  Kingdom. 

The  Glory  of  the  Kingdom. 

Division  and  Fall  of  the 
Prophets  of  the  Kingdom. 

The  Captivity. 

The  Return  from  Exile. 

Prophets  of  the  Exile  and  Return, 
Malachi  to  Christ. 

The  Advent  of  the  Messiah. 

The  Life  of  Christ  on  Earth. 

The  Resurrection  and  Ascensisn. 
Supremacy  of  Christ. 

The  Churches  in  the  Acts. 

The  Epistles  of  Paul. 

The  General  Epistles. 

The  Message  of  John  to  the  Churches. 


Although  the  Bible  is  composed  of  many  books,  and  each 
book  has  a  plan  and  purpose  peculiar  to  itself,  yet  there  Is  a 
general  plan  and  purpose  in  the  Bible  to  which  the  books  are 
subordinate  and  of  which  they  form  parts;  it  is  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  showing  this  general  plan  and  its  parts  that  this  series 
of  Studies  is  written. 

Special  attention  has  been  paid  to  illustrations  and  allu¬ 
sions  from  the  history  of  other  nations.or  what  may  be  called 
the  political,  the  social  and  religious  environment  of  the 
Chosen  people  In  Old  and  New  Testament  times. 

“  Such  a  general  survey  of  the  whole  Bible  is  of  supreme 
value,  being  fundamental,  indeed,  to  any  valuable  study  of  a 
portion.,,~-£u*u/ay  School  Times. 


265  Page*.  12mo 


SUPPLEMENTAL  BIBLE  STUDIES 

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HENRY  T.  SELL,  D.D. 


Revised  and  Enlarged 


TWENTY-FOUR  CHAPTERS 

I.  The  Making  of  the  Bible. 

ft.  How  we  got  our  English  Bible 

3.  Why  we  believe  the  Bible. 

4.  The  Land  of  the  Old  Testament  (with  m&p). 

5.  Order  of  Events  in  the  Old  Testament. 

6.  Why  Jewish  History  is  of  Interest  10  ns. 

7.  The  Institutions  of  the  Bible. 

8.  The  Old  Testament  a  necessary  Preparation  for  Chrlftt. 

9.  The  Land  of  the  New  Testament  (with  map). 

10.  Why  Four  Gospels? 

II.  Order  of  Events  in  the  Life  of  Christ  (with  map). 

12.  Order  of  Events  in  the  Acts  and  Epistles. 

13.  Condition  of  the  World  at  the  time  of  Christ. 

14.  Characteristics  of  Christ’s  Teachings— The  Miracles. 

15.  Characteristics  of  Christ’s  Teachings— Discourses  and 

Parables. 

16.  Christ  in  the  Home,  State,  Society  and  Church. 

17.  The  Effect  of  Christ’s  Teaching  upon  the  Disciples. 

18.  The  Effect  of  Christ’s  Teaching  upon  the  Jewish  and 

Roman  Nations. 

19.  Christ  and  His  Methods  in  Contrast  with  thoso  of  ether 

Reformers. 

ao.  Characteristics  of  the  Preaching  of  the  Apostles, 
si.  The  Primitive  Church. 

*?.  Christian  Life  as  Revealed  in  the  Catacombs  of  Rome. 

23.  Reasons  why  wo  Believe  Christ  to  be  Divine. 

24.  Reasons  why  the  Christian  Religion  is  fitted  for  all  Peo¬ 

ples 


The  Book  Moots  the  Dew  and  for  a  short  and  comprehensive 
coarse  of  study  apon  the  Structure,  Geography,  History, 
Institutions  and  Times  of  the  Bible.  There  are  twenty- 
four  lessons,  fivo  maps,  and  a  blackboard  oatline  for  every 
lesson. 

There  are  helps  for  the  normal  training  of  teachers,  and 
various  summaries  of  Scripture  history  to  be  used  as  SUP¬ 
PLEMENTAL  LESSONS.  It  is  in  tnese  latter  directions 
that  in  the  near  future  there  is  to  be  a  new  development  and 
impetus  in  Sabbath  School  progress  in  America.’’— Rev.  F 
N.  Peloubet,  D.D. 


160  Pages,  !2mo. 
Price: — Cloth,  Paper, 


STUDIES  IN  EARLY  CHURCH 
HISTORY 

BY 

HENRY  T.  SELL,  D.D. 


TEN  CHAPTERS 


1.  The  Church  in  Jerusalem. 

2.  The  Church  in  Antioch. 

3.  The  Church  in  the  Provinces. 

4.  The  Church  in  Rome. 

5.  The  Church  in  the  Catacomb*! 

8.  The  Church  in  Worship. 

7.  The  Church  in  the  Books. 

8.  The  Church  in  Controversy. 

9.  The  Church  in  Persecution. 

10.  The  Church  in  Victory. 

THE  PERIOD  of  which  these  studies  treat  extendi 
from  the  time  of  Christ  to  the  reign  of  Constantine,  the 
first  Christian  Roman  Emperor.  It  has  been  called  “The 
Heroic  Age  of  the  Church.”  It  introduces  us  into  the 
immediate  presence  of  the  builders  of  the  Church.  It  was 
in  these  years  that  the  Christian  doctrines  were  formu¬ 
lated,  the  principles  set  forth,  the  New  Testament  books 
written,  and  the  fiery  persecutions  endured.  In  the 
enthusiasm  and  freshness  of  their  faith  the  early  converts 
dared  all  things ;  no  tasks  were  too  hard,  no  hardships  too 

Jreat,  no  tortures  too  painful  if  called  for  in  the  name  ot 
esus  Christ,  their  Lord  and  Saviour. 

THIS  BOOK  shows  how  the  doctrines  and  principles  of 
the  Christian  faith  were  worked  out  in  actual  life  in  the  early 
centuries.  There  is  too  little  attention  paid  to  this  great 
period  It  will  well  repay  the  most  diligent  study. 


162  Pages,  12me. 


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